Book of Demons
by Shinji Shazaki
Summary: Shadows broken, betrayal across the stars, and the end of the world.  The book is complete.  RavenXStarfire.  Read, review, and I hope you've enjoyed.
1. Break Shadow: Chapter 1

Break Shadow: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Mothers pulled their children aside and businessmen quickly shuffled away as the tall woman came walking towards them. She walked casually against the general flow of the sidewalk, ignoring the stares that were sent her way. She wore a tight, black, short-sleeved shirt and equally tight black pants. She moved silently, her bare feet unbothered by the cement sidewalk. The stares were due partly to her peculiar appearance, but mostly to the sword that hung at her right side. A small smirk that revealed sharp fangs adorned her face, along with a few errant scars.

The woman soon came to a pier that sat in the city's bay. A T-shaped tower stood on an island in the middle of the bay. She looked to her side, where a portly man in a loud Hawaiian shirt and cream-white fisherman's hat stood taking photographs of the tower.

"So what is that thing?" the woman asked. The man jumped, his sweaty hands nearly dropping the digital camera they held. He looked at the woman, paling at the hard glare her red eyes gave him.

"That's Titan's Tower," he replied. "Where the Teen Titans live."

"Teen Titans?" the woman asked, grinning so her fangs would glisten in the man's sight. "Let me guess: a group of heroes for this city?" When the man nodded, she laughed and shook her head. Before the man could dismiss the idea of asking what was making her laugh, the ground rumbled and the sound of an explosion ripped through the air. Both the man and the woman turned to find a cloud of smoke rising from somewhere in the middle of the city.

"Found you," the woman murmured.

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"Burn, baby, burn!" The Teen Titans dodged the flames that erupted from the flamethrowers on the criminal's wrists. The pair of criminals in question were two brothers named Bada and Boom for their use of explosives. Bada, the elder of the two, wielded the aforementioned flamethrowers with gleeful abandon. Boom, the more muscular bound, carried on his back a massive canister filled with packs of gunpowder. The two pyromaniacs had blown a hole in the wall of the First Bank of Black City, but had been stopped before they could blast open the vault.

"Starfire, wait!" Robin called. Starfire froze, her hand pulled back and glowing with a star bolt. She looked at Robin in confusion.

"If you blast them, the powder might go off!" he said quickly. With little other choice, Starfire let the energy flow back into her body. The two brothers laughed heartily.

"Can't do nothing, can ya, Titans?" Boom said with a cocky grin. His laughter was cut short as a green ram crashed its curled horns into the canister on his back, effectively throwing him down the road. A blast of concentrated sound lifted Bada off his feet and threw him in the opposite direction. Beast Boy trotted over to Cyborg and turned back into a humanoid to share a high-five with his comrade.

"Bada!" Boom shouted, standing up and reaching into the canister.

"Boom!" Bada shouted in return. He lifted his arm up, firing a column of flame at the sphere of gunpowder Boom threw towards him. Before the ball could catch the fire and explode, black shadows surrounded it and pulled it away. Raven caught the sphere and smirked slightly. Bada, however, grinned as well. He reached into a pouch and threw out three smaller spheres of gunpowder, washing fire over them once they were far enough away from him.

Raven lifted her hands, creating a barrier of shadows between herself and the flames. She tensed, waiting for the explosions to rage against her magic. The fires did something entirely unexpected, however. They swirled in upon themselves, vanishing with a faint puff of black smoke. Everyone stared in shock, wondering what had just happened. When Bada felt a finger tap on his shoulder, he turned without thinking.

A fist crashed into his cheek, lifting him off the ground for the second time that day. He hit the ground, sliding to lay before his brother, unconscious. Boom stared at his brother's prone body, fury building inside him. He looked up to find a tall, slim woman with shaggy black hair standing where his brother had been. When she lifted a hand and beckoned him towards her, Boom let out a roar and charged at her.

He threw a hard right, which was easily dodged. The force behind the punch caused the criminal to stumble a few more steps, but he spun on heel quickly. His left fist rushed towards the woman's face, but her hand rose up. Boom's fist hit her palm with a loud smack. Her fingers closed around his fist and she pulled her arm back. Boom was pulled forward along with his fist. The woman lifted her leg swiftly, bringing her knee crashing into the burly man's gut. He gagged, rising up into the air.

From there, the woman flung the man over her head, back towards Bada. Boom slammed into the ground just as hard as his brother, skidding to a stop beside Bada. The Titans stared at the woman. With the exception of Starfire, they had not seen such a show of brute force from a woman. A small laugh left the woman's lips before she turned to face Raven. Raven jerked back as the woman's bright blood-red eyes met her dark violet ones.

"So this is how you use your powers?" the woman asked. "Having fun being a heroine, little blackbird?" The woman's voice seemed to reach into Raven and turn her mind off. She stood stunned, even as the woman drew closer. The woman laughed, stopping barely a foot away from the young sorceress.

"It's been eight years," she said with a smirk. "Nothing to say to your old teacher?" The words turned Raven's mind back on, and she took a step back to distance herself from the other woman.

"Chaos?" Raven asked. "What are you doing here? Why are you here?" Chaos grinned at her, fangs flashing once again.

"Oh, does it matter why I go anywhere?" she inquired with a dramatic shrug. "Maybe I just wanted to see how my old student was doing." She looked towards the other heroes, who were rather confused, with a grin. Her eyes moved back to spy on Raven, who had turned to look at the others as well. As Chaos crouched down slightly, Raven turned to look at her. Before Raven could react, Chaos leaned forward and pressed her lips against Raven's in a kiss.

Jaws immediately dropped on the other Titans. A tremor passed up Starfire's spine, ending with her eyes unconsciously narrowing and her hands clenching into fists. Raven stood stock-still, unable to move away, breathe, or blink. Chaos's red eyes stared into hers, waiting for Raven to react. She pulled away, a smile spreading on her lips.

"You certainly have made some interesting friends, little blackbird," she chuckled. When Raven did not respond, the smile turned to a wicked grin. "Especially the green-eyed one." Raven's eyes narrowed to slits, a frown on her face.

"You leave h—them alone," she snarled. Chaos leaned close to Raven once again, Raven leaning back.

"Make me," Chaos said with a laugh. Raven pulled back her arm, her eyes glowing as shadows surrounded her hand. Before she could strike, Chaos reached forward and grabbed Raven's wrist, holding it tight. As shadows gathered around Raven's other hand, Chaos took hold of its wrist. Raven struggled, trying to wrench away.

"Let go of me!" Raven snapped. In frustration, she used Chaos's hands to brace herself and lift her legs off the ground. Her plans to kick were ruined when Chaos merely twisted and threw Raven at the other Titans. She crashed into Starfire, the force of the throw causing both girls to tumble to the ground.

"Titans, get ready!" Robin said. He pulled a freeze disk from his utility belt as Cyborg readied his sonic blaster. The shorter of the duo threw the disk, Cyborg firing the blaster immediately after. A massive explosion of ice resulted, a cloud of freezing energy rushing at Chaos. Raven would have cried out for the others to stop, but she knew it was too late.

The ice froze solid abruptly, as it would when it captured something. Robin and Cyborg grinned confidently and Beast Boy let out a whoop. Ear-splitting cracks filled the air, killing the happy mood and replacing it with confusion. While the other Titans covered their ears, Raven only grimaced and kept her eyes open and searching.

A great crash rang out, sounding of shattering glass. The ice broke into thousands of shards and fell to the battle-scarred street, tinkling like chimes. Chaos still stood in the street, a smirk on her face. Raven frowned further, her eyes beginning to glow. Dozens of the ice shards turned black with her magic and rose up. With a swift gesture, Raven sent the sharp pieces towards Chaos.

With a lupine howl, a massive black dog leapt over Chaos from behind. The ice stabbed into the hound before it landed back on its paws on the ground. A hiss seeped out from the dog's fur, and the ice melted before evaporating. Raven frowned once again and closed her eyes tight.

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos_!" she shouted. A sphere of black shadows closed around Chaos swiftly. Raven closed her hand into a fist, the sphere shrinking just as quickly. The hound vanished, and Raven almost let her hand loosen.

"Oh, Raven," Chaos's voice called. "You aren't very good at capturing people." The Titans looked up. Chaos stood on the roof of a ten-story building, grinning at the heroes. She put her clawed left hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist. Raven's eyes widened. As Chaos leapt from the building, the sorceress threw her cloak up. Shadows encapsulated the team and drew them down into the ground. Chaos landed lightly, smirking and allowing her hand to return to her side.

----------

Starfire spun quickly, but Raven was already through the door. She jumped and flew towards the closing door. Although Raven was out of sight, the red-haired alien knew where she had gone. Before long, she stood in front of Raven's door.

"Raven?" she asked loudly. "Please, may I converse with you?" There was a long silence, but the door hissed open. Starfire walked inside, looking about to find Raven. The dark-haired girl stood in front of her window, not turning to look at the other girl.

"Please, Raven, who was that woman?" Starfire inquired. "She knew who you are—do you know who she is?" Raven refused to answer, staying utterly silent. Starfire frowned. Her patience began to wan quickly. Before long, she put her hand on Raven's shoulder.

"You know who she is," she said simply. "Please tell me." Confronted as she was, Raven did not wish to bring Starfire's anger upon herself. She lowered her head and turned to look at the other young woman. With a sigh, she gestured towards her bed. Starfire smiled and all but launched herself at the bed. Raven shook her head with a small smile, striding over to sit before Starfire.

"What do you remember about me?" Raven asked. Starfire blinked, her head tilting to the side in a puppy-like fashion. She put a finger to her chin, wondering how to answer the strange question.

"You are my friend," she replied. "You enjoy reading depressing poetry."

"No, no," Raven interrupted. "I mean what do you remember about me from when we switched bodies? I know that I didn't tell you much, but what do you remember?"

"You were born in Azarath," Starfire murmured. "And you said that your life was chaos until you were eight Earth years old." She blinked suddenly, an epiphany washing over her mind.

"You did not mean your life was difficult and hard to understand?" she asked. "Your life was the woman who attacked you today?" Raven nodded, but shook her head a moment later.

"It was both," she answered. "Chaos was in my life since before I can remember. She's a demon—she likes to kill and destroy." She looked up at the somewhat confused look on Starfire's face and sighed.

"Listen, I'll start at the beginning," she murmured. "When Chaos first appeared in my life. It was actually before I was born."

----------

Rain fell hard on Azarath. The roar of the water echoed within the realm of the blessed. Angels, the servants of Heaven, and humans either blessed or born of angelic blood all lived in Azarath. It was calm and peaceful, a paradise on Earth that was beyond the reach of normal humans and most demons. Most of humanity, as well as the demon race, is not strong enough to enter Azarath.

Strength is never defined clearly for any race, but there is a saying that encompasses most of sentient life: strength of body, strength of mind, strength of soul. Strength of body, needless to say, is the power of motion. A person who can move objects twice his or her body weight is usually labeled as strong. Strength of mind is both will and intelligence. Strength of soul is, crudely, the ability to work magic and manipulate energy.

Only those demons that were strong in all respects were able to enter Azarath. In the history of Azarath, only three pureblood demons had entered, and only two could easily come and go. One of these two demons stood outside a house set near a small forest, only pausing briefly to look at the house.

Chaos smirked and walked forwards, calmly kicking the door apart with her bare, clawed feet. She looked to the right, into a well-lit room. A woman sitting on the floor, naked, looked back at her, a kitchen knife in her hands and at her throat. Chaos smirked again, turning to face the woman completely. The woman's dark eyes grew wide and she pulled the knife away from her throat very slightly. Before she could thrust the knife, Chaos lifted her right hand before flicking it aside. The knife tore out of the woman's hands and stabbed itself tightly into the nearest wall.

"Ah, ah, ah," Chaos chuckled mockingly, waving a finger. "I can't have you killing yourself." The woman's eyes welled over with tears and she let out a scream of fear and frustration.

"Leave me alone, you damned demon!" she shrieked. Chaos laughed aloud at her words.

"'Damned demon?'" she asked. "How original! You're the first person that's ever called me that!" The woman did not respond, choosing instead to put her head to the floor and sob. Chaos rolled her eyes impatiently and walked to the woman, crouching low to the ground. Her pointed ears picked up the woman's soft whimpers.

"How many more times can you demons rape me?" the woman sobbed. "Please, just leave me alone. Let me die, please." Chaos rolled her eyes again, reaching under the woman to grab her by the shoulders. She lifted her up, making sure that the woman looked her in the eyes.

"I'm not here to rape you like Trigon did," she said slowly. "And I'm not going to leave you alone or let you die. At least, not until that child growing in your body is born, Alena." The words, as well as the hypnotic effect of a bit of magic, made the woman's sobs stop.

"How do you know my name?" Alena asked. "How do you know what happened?" Chaos grinned, flashing her fangs.

"Well, I know you were raped by Trigon because of three things," she answered. "One, you're naked and bleeding. Two, you smell like him. And three, Gabriel told me." Alena instantly froze. For those who actually knew of Heaven and its angels, the name of Gabriel was renowned. He was a powerful, benevolent being, well loved by Heaven and its followers. A frown would have slid onto Alena's face, had Chaos not been gently hypnotizing her.

"You're lying," she said quietly. "Gabriel wouldn't speak to a monster like you." A flash of fear swept past her lucidity for a moment. Chaos's laugh almost dispelled the fear.

"Thanks for the compliment," she chuckled. "He didn't speak directly to me. It was a dream—a prophecy, regarding the child. It's supposed to be powerful and important to Heaven. According to Gabriel, I have to unlock its powers—teach it." A heavy silence lingered after these words.

"Her," Alena murmured suddenly. Chaos raised a brow. Alena's gaze grew stronger, her will returning to her. "It's going to be a girl. I can feel it."

"Cute," Chaos muttered, smirking slightly. "Any ideas for a name?"

----------

"She did what she said she would," Raven murmured, "and more than I ever would have expected. She was…almost motherly. She always took care of me—she taught me how to survive. The only time she left me on my own was during a fight."

"But what if you were in danger?" Starfire asked.

"If I was really in danger, Chaos would step in and kill whoever was attacking me," Raven replied. "She never explained why she did it. She taught me everything—that my powers are tied to my emotion, about my father, about everything. A little while after I was born, she took me from Azarath and brought me to Earth. We wandered the world for the next seven or eight years. We had been walking across China one day when a group of demons attacked us."

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"Look! Chaos got herself a kid!" Raven slid closer to the tall demon woman, nervously watching the five other demons surround them.

"Looks tasty!" one of the more dog-faced demons said with a slobbery grin. Raven kept her face calm, taking slightly deeper breaths to calm her heart.

"You don't like eating things like this," the first demon spoke again. "Why don't you give her to us? We're really hungry." Abruptly, the demon's faces broke into smiles, their tongues lolling out to pant with glee. Chaos's hand, which Raven had been unable to see, pressed against Raven's back.

"Raven," she said with a grin, "show them why you're with me." The demons looked up to Chaos in confusion, ignoring Raven even as her eyes began to glow.

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos_!" the young girl cried. Shadows gathered around her hands and two of the demons. Raven clapped her hands together, the demons smashing into each other headfirst. They dropped to the ground, unconscious. Raven looked back towards the remaining three. With a gasp, she lifted her hands to create a shield. A cluster of flaming shuriken ricocheted off the shield.

Before another attack could be launched, shadows pulled the ground under two of the demons up into the air. With a grunt, Raven heaved the boulder and the demons into the distance. Chaos laughed aloud at Raven's achievement and the remaining demon's stun.

"Well done, little blackbird!" Chaos called approvingly. "One more to go!" A swell of pride appeared in Raven's chest, and she turned to face her opponent with confidence. He snarled and pulled a broadsword from the sheath on his back. Raven concentrated, taking hold of a smaller broadsword made of shadows. She stood her ground when the demon charged.

A swift dodge sent the demon lurching by, directly into a kick to the stomach. As the demon bent double and coughed, Raven lifted her sword. Unwilling to strike to kill, the sword became a staff and came down on the back of the demon's head. Raven looked up to Chaos, smiling unsurely. Chaos smiled in return. Amazed at the gesture, Raven blushed faintly.

"I have nothing left to teach you," Chaos murmured. She shrugged suddenly, turning about. "It was fun." As she walked away, Raven took only one step after her. It was the closest thing she would have to a goodbye.

—_to be continued—_


	2. Break Shadow: Chapter 2

Break Shadow: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Raven stared out at the bay, watching the sunrise. Starfire had long since fallen asleep on her bed, weary after the long day and hearing the tales of her teammate's past. Repeating the stories created a swell of confusion and fear in Raven. She wondered how Chaos was supposed to "unlock" her powers, whatever that meant exactly.

She looked back towards Starfire with a faint smile. The taller girl had wrapped herself in the sheets, her head at one side of the bed and her feet dangling off the other. Raven gestured, and Starfire lifted slightly off the bed. She turned in the air to a more traditional position, her head over the pillows, and lowered gently down. Almost in defiance, Starfire rolled in her sleep to resume her previous position.

Laughing quietly, Raven shook her head. Unable to do much else, she lifted one hand and a book flew into it. She rose up into the air, crossed her legs, and opened the book.

Thirty minutes later, the alarms went off.

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The girl looked up quickly at the jingle of the bells on the door. It was her fourth day at the city's pizza restaurant, and she was beginning to adjust to the night shift. It was only six-thirty, but she was awake and ready to take any orders.

"Welcome to the Pizza Place!" she said cheerfully. "What can I get you?" It was fortunate that she had finished her required speech before actually looking towards the door. Chaos had just walked through the door, yawning and scratching the back of her neck. The girl standing behind the counter paled and went stiff, trying to summon courage enough to move her pinkies.

"Let me see," Chaos said after yawning widely. Her red eyes carefully read over the menu behind the counter. After a minute or so, she smiled and looked back to the girl, who stepped behind the register.

"A large cheese and a pitcher of water," she said, yawning once again. "I just came from watching the sunrise and I'm hungry."

"Oh, from your home?" the young woman asked steadily, her business persona taking over. She typed in the order on the register.

"No, from the mountains," Chaos replied. The girl smiled and nodded, her hands surprisingly steady.

"That'll be fifteen thirty-five," she said with another smile, "and it'll be about twenty minutes." Chaos fished in her pocket for a moment, retrieving a small wad of bills. She rifled through the wad, eventually pulling out a twenty and handing it to the girl. The girl quickly counted out the change and held out her hand. Chaos waved it away.

"Keep it," she said with her own smile. "And would you mind serving it to me up on your roof? It's going to be a nice day out."

"Of course," the girl replied. Chaos waved and walked up the stairs to the roof café. Once she had vanished, the girl walked into the kitchen, relaying the order to the cooks. As one of the cooks started to make the pizza, she slumped against a wall, a cold sweat rolling down her face.

Twenty-two minutes later, she steadied herself with the platter and the pitcher of water and walked up the stairs. Chaos sat at a table in the center of the slice-shaped roof, looking out at the sun. She grinned as the girl set down the food and drink.

"Here," she said, placing two bills in the girl's hand. "Thanks." The girl nodded, smiling, and walked away. When she was safely down the stairs, she looked at the bills in her hand. A pair of hundred dollar bills stared up at her. The girl looked back towards the stairs, briefly wondering if she should go back up and refuse to take the massive tip. Common sense won out, and she put the money in her pocket with a confused but happy smile.

Chaos rubbed her clawed hands together, licking her lips with an eager tongue. It had been months since she had been in a city, and just as long since she even thought to have pizza. She picked up a slice and took a bite.

"Yum," she murmured after a moment. It was certainly a pleasure to eat a finely made pizza. After the first slice, Chaos made a note in her mind to give the girl downstairs a few more hundreds and not to kill her and take all the money in the restaurant. After ten minutes, she had finished five of sixteen slices, and was about to start in on her sixth.

She paused, however, when a sound rudely hit her pointed ears. It was a scream, and it was growing louder. Abruptly, a small green blur fell from the sky and slammed into the table, smashing the table and the pizza as it dug a gouge in the floor. An exceedingly short figure stood up from the wreckage, muttering furiously and slapping his hands at the sauce and cheese on his green jumpsuit.

"Stupid pus-eating nose-pickers!" the tiny boy whined. "I'll show those stupid Titans a thing or two!" He gasped when Chaos's hand grabbed the front of his jumpsuit.

"Lemme go, ya butt-breathed, snot-brained moron!" he snapped, kicking his legs. His bravado, obviously bigger than his brain, kept him snarling and glaring at Chaos. She glared back at him, her fangs glinting as her lips pulled in a sneer.

"I was eating that," she growled, pointing a claw at the stains on his suit.

"What do I care?" he shouted. "I'm Gizmo, and you're in my way, ya stupid pimple-head!" He shouted again as Chaos's hand fell on his head. Gizmo continued to shout threats and insults until Chaos's hand started to close.

On the street below, the Titans stood their ground against Jinx and Mammoth. Robin slid back along the street, Mammoth having punched him moments earlier. The boy wonder stood back up, his Bo staff held tightly in both hands.

"Titans, get ready!" he commanded, his body tensing. Before the Titans could move, a voice called out.

"This must belong to you, then!" Chaos shouted, flinging something at Jinx. The force behind the projectile slammed Jinx into the ground, cracking the concrete beneath her. She sat up slowly, groaning and shaking her pink-haired head. A snarl started to make its way out of her throat, but it died just behind her tongue when she looked at the thing in her lap.

What was left of Gizmo lay crumpled upon her. His head was gone, replaced by a few bloody fibers holding onto shards of skull dangling from the neck. The teen villains and heroes all looked up at Chaos, staring at her bloody right hand. Unpleasant chunks slipped off her fingers and fell to the pavement with a wet splat.

Jinx screamed and Mammoth roared. The muscle-bound teen leapt up, giant hands reaching for Chaos. Chaos's grin grew wider. She stepped off the ledge of the building, Mammoth's hands grabbing for her too late. Her hand grabbed his ankle as she went by, jerking him down into her grasp. They both fell, Chaos pulling Mammoth over her knee. She hit the ground first, kneeling on one knee. Mammoth slammed into her knee, back first, and gave a shout of pain. Chaos's eyes lit up as she lifted her arms. She brought them down fast, her forearms striking Mammoth's neck and stomach.

A loud, wet crack rang out, and Mammoth bent further over Chaos's knee. He slid to the ground, eyes blank and staring. Jinx continued to scream, her shrieks intensifying as Chaos drew closer. Chaos crouched down, her blood-covered hand closing over the witch's mouth. She snapped Jinx's neck with a quick jerk of her wrist. A chuckle left her lips as she stood and let Jinx's body fall to the ground.

"You're insane," Robin said simply, eyes wide and skin pale. All of the heroes stood in shock and disgust; all but Raven. She stood with a defiant frown, glaring at her erstwhile teacher.

"What, didn't Raven tell you about me?" Chaos asked, flicking her hand mostly clean of the blood. She grinned at Raven, who looked away. Chaos closed her eyes, shook her head, and laughed.

"I suppose she doesn't trust you enough," she chuckled. "Not enough to tell you about me, anyway." Her eyes opened again, sweeping over the Titans. A grin pulled her lips again, her eyes lighting up.

"Well, maybe she trusts one of you enough," she murmured tauntingly. "The green-eyed one, I would think." Raven's eyes snapped open, shining brightly. She lifted both hands, her magic taking hold of a car parked on the street. With a furious gesture, she flung the SUV at Chaos. Chaos laid her hand on the hilt of the sword at her side and drew it, laughing heartily. Metal screamed as it was cut through, and the SUV fell in two pieces on either side of Chaos.

Raven ripped up a chunk of the street and lifted another car, throwing them at Chaos simultaneously. The pureblood demon laughed again, slicing both the car and the hunk of asphalt in half. With a rage-filled shout, Raven lifted the ground under Chaos into the air. She clapped her hands together, the stone curling into a sphere. Not content with this, she clasped her hands tight. The stone crunched, becoming a solid boulder.

Streaks of sparks erupted over the boulder, and it exploded. Chaos dropped to the ground, lifting the one-sided sword and resting it on her shoulder. The grin on her face was both triumphant and mocking, and it drove Raven further towards the edge. Her eyes began to darken, turning blood red. Beast Boy and Cyborg let out terrified squeals as the ground rumbled under their feet.

"Raven, don't get all crazy on us!" Beast Boy squeaked. Raven refused to hear the green-furred boy, her attention focused entirely on attacking Chaos. Her hands closed into tight fists, the rumbling growing stronger with Raven's fury. Chaos's expression abruptly calmed, her manic grin fading. She watched Raven grow angrier, her own brows furrowing.

The opportunity was too great to ignore. Starfire took advantage of Chaos's distraction and let loose a massive blast of energy. A wall of black flames erupted before Chaos, blocking the energy and hiding the demon. When the flames vanished, there was no sign of Chaos. Raven's ragged breath abruptly caught just behind her tongue, and her eyes cleared.

"Raven?" Starfire asked. "Are you all right?" Raven shot into the air, flying fast towards Titan's Tower. Starfire leapt up, following the young woman just as quickly the other moved.

"Raven, please wait!" Starfire called, doubling her efforts to catch up to the half-demon. She managed to just beat Raven's speed, taking hold of Raven's wrist when she was able to. Raven stopped, but did not look at Starfire.

"Raven, what is wrong?" the red-haired alien asked gently. "Please, I am trustworthy. I just wish to help." After a moment and a low sigh, Raven nodded slightly and pointed towards the Tower.

"Let's just land there first," she murmured. Starfire did not question her friend, and the two slowly descended onto the roof of the Tower. Raven took a few quick steps away from Starfire, crossing her arms and refusing to look the other in the face.

"Please, Raven, tell me what troubles you so," Starfire said gently. It took a long moment before Raven answered.

"My powers are tied to emotion, remember?" she said in a strained voice. "When I get angry, I can't control my powers. You've seen what happens—what just happened."

"And therein lies my problem." Raven and Starfire whirled to find Chaos sitting on the small shack that housed the stairwell into the building. She sat in the classic thinker's pose, staring thoughtfully at Raven.

"You can't control it," she muttered. "After eight solid years of my training, I thought you'd be able to wield your power more effectively than this." She hopped down from the small building, walking towards the two young heroines. Starfire stepped away as Chaos drew closer, but Raven defiantly stood her ground.

"I'm supposed to help you unlock your powers, but no matter what I do, you're completely unaffected," Chaos growled. Raven's defiant stance faltered. The growing rage in Chaos's voice seemed to echo.

"What is it that I need to do?" Chaos demanded, red eyes blazing. "What will make you gain control?"

"Starfire, run," Raven said quickly, pushing back at the other heroine blindly. "Just run. Get away. Now!" Before Starfire could react, Chaos suddenly calmed, grinning broadly.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" she asked with a laugh, turning and walking a few paces away. "It's so easy! So simple!" Starfire screamed. Raven spun about, eyes widening at the sight before her. A serpent made entirely of ice slithered around Starfire's feet, and the massive black hound made of fire snapped at Starfire as she came near.

"Leave her alone!" Raven shouted. "I'm the one you're after!" Chaos chuckled, ignoring Starfire's scream of shock when the serpent struck her foot and encased it in thick, heavy ice.

"No, Raven," Chaos said in a singsong voice. "I'm not 'after' you. I'm making sure you can use all the power you've been given. This is the best way to do it."

"Don't hurt her!" Raven said desperately. "Please!" Chaos only gave her a malicious grin. Raven turned to look at Starfire again, eyes staring as the black hound tackled Starfire.

"You know what I want, little blackbird," Chaos murmured. "If you want me to stop, then admit that you feel. Admit your rage! Admit that you care for her!" When Raven made no move, Chaos scowled. "Do it before it's too late." Raven's eyes widened once more, meeting Starfire's terrified green eyes.

"I—can't," Raven whispered. Chaos sighed and snapped her clawed fingers. Starfire let out a shriek of horror as the hound swirled into a massive column of black fire around her. The scream reached a peak, and then stopped. The flames dissipated, and Starfire was gone. Raven's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She ran to where Starfire had been, dropping to her knees and patting the ground as if hunting for a sign that Starfire was still there.

"You didn't," Raven murmured. Her hands began to slap at the ground. "You couldn't have." Her hands tightened, fists pounding the reinforced cement hard enough to crack it. She began to shake with rage, her eyes lighting with pure white. She spun and stood, her fists swallowed by blackness. Had she been anyone else, Chaos's grin would have slid off her face at the sight of Raven so enraged. Instead, she stood straight, crossing her arms and smiling slightly.

"You—BITCH!" Raven shouted, casting her arms down and closing her eyes tight. "How could you? How dare you! I'll kill you!" A swell of shadows appeared, the shape of a dark bird rising up and towering over Chaos. It rushed at the demon, slamming into the grinning woman with the speed and power of a skyscraper dropped from thirty stories.

Chaos was flung from the roof, hitting the water and skipping across it like a well-tossed rock. The splash that erupted when she lost enough speed was massive, and she soon crashed into the shoreline. The shore, however, was still not enough to stop her completely. Chaos gouged a massive path with her body through the street she had hit, cars bouncing and popping their tires from the shockwave. She sat up slowly, shaking her head to dislodge the pebbles from her hair and letting out a laugh.

"That's a start," she muttered, spitting out a gob of black blood. With another laugh, she vanished in a cyclone of black flames. By then, the remaining Titans had crossed the bay riding on a whale Beast Boy. The sight of the giant dark bird confused and frightened them, and they ran as fast as they could to the roof. They found Raven sitting at the edge of the building, her hood up and her shoulders shaking.

"Where's Starfire?" Beast Boy asked. No one replied, as they all knew the answer. The day was turning out to be beautiful.

—_to be continued—_


	3. Break Shadow: Chapter 3

Break Shadow: Chapter 3

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Starfire's eyes snapped open, her body jerking into a sitting position. She looked about, her long hair flipping wildly at her speed. The thick sheaf of hair slapped Chaos's face on its roundabout trip, and Starfire spun around again to find the demon sitting beside her. Chaos pulled a loose red hair from its resting place on Starfire's nose and let it flutter to the ground.

"You!" Starfire gasped, jerking away instinctively and standing up. "Where am I? What have you done to me?"

"Yes, me," Chaos said in a conversational tone. "You're at my home, and I've just come here from your world, so I haven't had the chance to do anything to you."

"But what are you planning to do?" Starfire demanded, her hands and eyes lighting with bright emerald.

"Wait for a while, then go to Raven again," Chaos replied. She actually bothered to look at Starfire, smiling at the energy in the alien's hands and eyes.

"What?" Starfire asked curiously.

"I don't feel like fighting," Chaos answered, "so you can put those out." Starfire's head tilted to one side, the lost puppy-dog look getting a chuckle out of Chaos.

"If you are not going to attack me, then what do you intend to do with me?" Starfire asked. Chaos chuckled again, tilting her head to the side. A loud pop rang out, and Chaos let out a happy sigh.

"You're here because I need to piss Raven off as much as I can," she replied. "That means making her think you're dead."

"What do you mean?" Starfire eventually asked.

"People get mad when they think the one they love the most is dead," Chaos said simply. Starfire stared at her. There was a long, long moment of silence. Chaos looked at the girl again, raising an eyebrow at the confusion on her face. She soon turned away, closing her eyes.

"Why would that make Raven angry?" Starfire asked.

"Raven's mad because she thinks you're dead." Chaos reached her arms up and crossed them, massaging her own shoulders. "But because she's sad too, it's controlling the magic that would usually come with the anger. The emotions are tied into her blood. Since she has holy and human blood as well as demonic blood, it allows emotions to buffer each other instead of overwhelm Raven."

"That is not what I meant!" Starfire said. Chaos looked at her again, letting her hands fall away from her shoulders. Starfire blushed, looking down and biting her lip. "What I mean is—why do you say that Raven is angered?"

"She. Loves. You. Clear enough now?" Starfire's blush deepened as she began to twist her fingers nervously.

"Why do you say that Raven—loves me?" she asked.

"I kissed her to make her distracted, and that made it possible for me to read her mind," Chaos explained with a sigh. "I did that to see what she's been up to in the last eight years, and I found that she had fallen in love with you." She gave Starfire a once-over, smirking slightly. "Can't say I blame her." She stood up with a groan, stretching up on the balls of her bare feet. "You should think about how you feel about her."

"How I feel about her?" Starfire questioned. "She is my dear friend."

"Is she more?" Starfire bowed her head when she met Chaos's eyes, wondering.

----------

"Where. Is. Starfire?" Raven said nothing. Robin's lips pulled back in rage, a growl bubbling out of his throat.

"_Where's Starfire!_" He reached out and grabbed Raven's shoulders, shaking her furiously. "_What happened!_"

"She's dead." Pain made Raven's voice flat, but her eyes shone wetly. She closed her eyes, the tears gathering in her eyelashes.

"_And you let her get killed!_" Beast Boy and Cyborg cringed at Robin's screams. Unsure of what to do, they stood a few feet away from the two others, watching and waiting. They gasped when Robin pulled his fist back. Raven did not open her eyes, but when the punch came at her, black shadows created a shield before her face. The boy wonder's fist slammed into the shield, the magic holding strong.

Robin leapt back, charging forward with a rage-filled shout. He twirled on the ball of one foot, swinging the other around in a powerful kick. Again the shadows appeared, blocking the strike easily. Enraged even further, Robin screamed as he let loose a flurry of punches. Every time his hands drew close, shadows unfolded from nothingness and stopped them. He swung his right hand in a chop aimed at Raven's neck, blind in his anger.

Shadows stopped his hand, and instantly enveloped his entire body. The shadows held him in the air while he struggled and squirmed.

"You let her die!" Robin howled. "You let Starfire die! You let that goddamn monster kill her! It's your fault! We've lost her—_I've_ lost her! I cared about her and you let her die!" Raven looked at Robin, tears slowly finding their way down her face

"Do you really think you were the only one who cared about her?" she asked in a whisper. "I loved her. I loved her more than you can imagine, and Chaos knew that." She sank to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself. "Chaos knew that, and she knew I couldn't say it. It's my fault Starfire's gone." As she began to sob, the shadows around Robin vanished. He stood, watching Raven sob. In the awkward silence, Beast Boy was the first to notice something.

"Raven," he said softly, amazed. "Your powers aren't going all crazy." Raven opened her eyes and looked at her hands. Though her body shook with pain, her magic was calm.

She stared at her shaking hands and whispered, "What's happened to me?"

----------

Chaos watched Starfire sleep, a smile on her face. The alien heroine had lain back down on the floor of the open deck and fallen asleep after thinking for hours on end. Her brow was still furrowed, as if her thoughts had carried into her dreams.

"And who is this?" Chaos glanced down, seeing the shadow stretching out beside her. She looked back towards Starfire with a small chuckle.

"Raven has a bit of a crush on her," she murmured. The man behind her chuckled.

"Your little blackbird? A love?" The man chuckled again.

"I had hoped she would learn how to love sooner than this. And without my having to hurt her." A silent moment passed. Chaos sighed and shook her head. "I'll wait until she wakes up. By then, she'll have an answer." She leaned back on her hands, watching as Starfire twitched from her dreams. The man put his hand on Chaos's head.

"You're doing well, daughter." Chaos smiled.

"Thank you, father."

----------

Raven stared at the moon, sitting on the roof of Titan's Tower. She sat where Starfire had last been, hugging her knees. Her tears had stopped, but a few still glistened on her cheeks. After a moment, she lowered her head and closed her eyes.

"What, Robin?" she asked. The short boy behind her waited a moment before sitting down to her right a foot or two away.

"I shouldn't have done that," Robin said quietly. "I'm sorry." Raven could still feel the anger coiling off the young man like massive serpents, and did not answer him. There was some sincerity in his voice, but part of him still desired to hurt her.

"So, you care about Star, too?" he asked. Raven was silent a few moments longer, wishing that Robin's voice had not been so falsely conversational.

"I love her," she replied simply. Robin sighed, but cut it off abruptly. He looked down at the bay, watching the water break in waves and flash briefly as diamonds from the moonlight.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Because I do," Raven said. "Why do _you_ say you care about her?"

"She's beautiful," he said quickly. "She's innocent and brave. How could I not care about her?"

"You forgot to say that she's smart, strong, funny, and just Starfire." Robin nearly scowled, but managed to restrain himself to a frown. There was a long silent pause.

"Would you have given her up?" Raven asked suddenly. Robin did not trust himself to keep his fists to himself if he looked at Raven, so he continued to stare at the water. "Could you?"

"I don't know," he finally replied.

"If it meant her being happy, I'd let her go." Raven sighed and hugged her knees tighter to her chest. "I wanted her to always be happy."

"It sure didn't seem that way." The words had flown out of Robin's mouth, and he hadn't considered stopping them. Uneasy silence prevailed for many minutes.

"I couldn't let anyone get close to me. It sounds so stupid and clichéd, but it's dangerous to be near me."

"Ad now we can get closer to you?"

"I don't know." Robin stood up, turned away, and left. Raven remained, still staring at the moon. They had not looked at each other.

----------

Dreams are among the few things that all creatures in existence share. It is believed that dreams are ways for the subconscious mind to sort through emotions and memories that would otherwise be misunderstood or ignored. In Starfire's case, if an otherwise unsolvable question is the only thing thought about before sleep, the subconscious dreaming mind will find the answer.

Is she more? The question was locked firmly in place in the forefront of Starfire's mind. Memories of Raven replayed themselves, and Starfire watched them, fascinated. Though gruff at times, she had grown close to Starfire, and Starfire to her. Starfire had seen the kindness behind the shadows, and had often been the one Raven's kindness was given to. As the memories played on, Starfire soon came to realize that Raven's affections, while never plainly spoken, were plainly seen.

She had not laughed at Beast Boy's jokes, but had blushed when Starfire hugged her. She would never train with Cyborg, but would go to the mall with Starfire. She did not coddle Starfire as Robin did, instead helping her and teaching her to become a stronger person.

Raven, Starfire found, was appealing. She was pretty. She was smart. She was brave and strong. The few flaws Starfire found—coldness, distance, anger—were easily shadowed by Raven as a whole. In her sleep, Starfire smiled. She had an answer.

—_to be continued—_


	4. Break Shadow: Chapter 4

Break Shadow: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Raven closed her eyes. The sun was cresting over the mountains just beyond Black City, and the light hurt her eyes. She had spent all night watching the sky, the moon, and the stars, and her eyes were too used to the dark. Her tears had stopped after a few hours. Time had dulled the pain to an ache under her skin, and her eyes had grown tired.

After a moment, she opened her eyes slightly. The sunrise was beautiful, and nearly made her tears start again. To think, that the person dearest to her would never see another sunrise, and all because of her. Because of her inaction. Because of her fear. Anger bubbled in Raven's chest. She hated herself for letting Starfire be killed.

There was, however, one thing—one person, that she hated more than herself at that moment. Chaos. Raven took a deep breath, her hands clenching into fists. When she looked at her hands, no shadows surrounded them. Calm. Control. Somehow she had control of her powers. Despite that, her rage continued to build. If ever she saw Chaos again—she was unsure of what she would do. Weary of the world, Raven stood up, intending to go to her room, and unsure what she would do next.

"What are you going to do?" Raven stopped moving for a moment, stopped breathing, wishing that she hadn't heard the painfully familiar voice. She turned, hoping that she had imagined what she heard. Chaos stood there, a stone's throw away from Raven. She stood, appropriately enough, against the backdrop of a still black sky, her arms crossed and the breeze pulling at her black hair.

"Well?" she asked. "What are you going to do?" She began to pace, left and right, watching Raven with blazing red eyes. "Here I am. The one who killed the girl you loved." She grinned wickedly. "What are you going to do? Well, little blackbird?" She never broke eye contact with Raven, staring at the lost young woman. "Attack? Run away? Or will you kill me, like you said you would?"

Raven's eyes narrowed and began to glow. She rushed forward, lifting off the ground and pulling back her right hand. As her fingers curled into a fist, shadows surrounded them. Chaos hopped backwards when Raven's arm started to swing about, the young woman's fist flying through the air where Chaos's neck used to be.

"It's a good start," Chaos chuckled. "But you're still not getting close enough. Again, little blackbird, and with some effort this time."

"This isn't some twisted lesson of yours!" Raven snapped. "I'm not five anymore, Chaos!" Chaos laughed, tossing her head back.

"If you want me to fight you like I mean it, then fight like _you_ mean it!" she replied. Raven scowled and flew forward again, rounding her shoulder and concentrating on gathering enough speed in the short distance. The magic surged within her, shooting her forward faster than she had hoped for. Just before she crashed into Chaos, she grinned. Two loud cracks made their way out of Chaos's chest; the rush had snapped two ribs. As if unaffected by the broken bones, Chaos grabbed Raven's shoulders and threw her backwards over the edge of the roof.

Raven spiraled through the air a moment before righting herself. She hovered and looked up at the tower. Chaos had walked to the edge of the roof and sat down, smirking at the young woman twenty feet below. Two echoing pops suddenly rang out; Chaos's ribs had healed. Her fangs glinting in the light, Chaos abruptly pointed her finger down. Raven shot backwards instinctively, dodging an eruption of water from the bay below. When the water followed her, she waved her hands before her. The water smashed itself against the shield, falling back into the bay in a spray.

Chaos was gone when Raven looked back to the roof of the tower. She spun about, looking in every direction. A moment of silence passed, and when Raven blinked, a fist buried itself in her stomach. The strike bent her over Chaos's arm, pain flaring and radiating out through her body. Raven clutched Chaos's arm, gasping for breath.

"Come now, little blackbird," Chaos chuckled. "All that power in you, and this is the best fight you can muster?" She pulled back her fist and grabbed Raven's cloak, lifting her up to stare at her dark blue eyes. The pain had caused the magic to fade, breath still proving elusive to Raven. "I thought you had learned some control over it. Do I have to kill someone else for it to sink in? Don't tell me that the girl died for no reason."

"Shut up." Raven's eyes grew bright, strength and anger returning. Chaos laughed at her, throwing her back through the air a few feet.

"Or what?" Raven let her anger swell up, let her hands clench into fists. Her magic surged, but she held control of it. She glared at Chaos, shadows surrounding her body. Before Chaos could react, a clawed hand made of shadows grabbed her and pulled her close to Raven.

"I don't know what I'll do later," Raven murmured. "But I'm going to fight you until I know." The hand threw Chaos down into the water. The water surged back into place, flying up in a column that reached twenty feet. Raven watched, waiting to see what Chaos would do next. A moment passed, and then another. The water began to boil, and then to spread apart. Chaos rose up, looking up at Raven with a smile on her face. She lowered, the water gathering back under her. She stood on the water, smiling.

"Have you ever wondered what a demon looks like?" she asked. "A true demon—not the scant few you've faced and beaten in your short, sad life. Consider yourself lucky, little blackbird. I'm going to test your powers as I really am. Watch carefully. This is a once in a millennia event." She started to laugh. As her laugh grew louder, wickeder, black flames appeared from thin air. The flames grew and started to dance, flying around Chaos and hiding her from view as her laugh rang in Raven's ears. The inferno calmed, and Raven suddenly understood what Chaos had been saying.

Demons typically do not hide their true appearance, instead using how they look to intimidate and frighten humans to attain what they want. In Chaos's case, she had to use concealing magic. Six, diamond-shaped, glowing red eyes stared hauntingly up at Raven. Her lips were pulled in a feral grin, her fangs having grown even more pronounced than before. Her ears were just as pointed, and folded back against her head. Claws tipped her fingers and toes, and a dagger-ended tail swung twitching around her legs. Black-feathered wings came from her back, to complete the image of a fallen creature of Hell.

Raven's breath caught just behind her tongue. Fear swelled in her chest at the sight. Her hands began to shake, but the memory of Starfire's smile steadied them. She let her magic well up with her rage, calling up spells she had not used in years. With a simple thought, shadows created a sword in her hands, and she sank into a stance. Below, Chaos grinned wider, drew her sword, and settled into the same stance. She had, after all, taught Raven all that the heroine knew.

----------

Starfire woke up with a yawn, sitting up and stretching. She looked about and remembered where she was, jerking in shock when the memory hit her. After a moment of looking, she saw someone standing a few feet away with his or her back to the young alien.

"I see you've finally woken up," the person—a man with a deep voice—murmured. "My daughter has already gone back to face Raven again."

"But—why?" Starfire asked.

"She was going to wait for you to wake up and answer her question," he explained, "but she saw you smile in your sleep and guessed what your answer would be."

"Why is she facing Raven once more?" Starfire asked quickly.

"To test her powers."

"But—but—_why_?" The man chuckled softly, much to Starfire's confusion.

"Destiny."

----------

Thunderclaps rang through the streets of Black City. Had the windows in Titans Tower not been made of bulletproof, reinforced Plexiglas, they would have shattered. Hovering over the bay, Chaos and Raven dueled each other. Raven felt her arms vibrate every time she blocked one of Chaos's strikes. Whenever she managed to force Chaos into a defensive position, she could see no such response in the demon woman.

Both of them used the fluid, arcing style Chaos had created. Every slash flowed from the one before it, and every parry into every counter. Chaos had every advantage: she was stronger, she was faster, and she had been a warrior longer than Raven could comprehend. Raven, however, was driven by deep, searing anger and hate, and it made her almost equal in power. Almost.

Though she hated Chaos for what she had done, she still could not find it in herself to fight with everything she had. There was too much between them—a past Raven could not and would not abandon simply because of hatred. She managed to keep her focus, blocking and dodging attacks, but never truly tried for an offensive.

Chaos's tail wrapped around her ankle and flung her down through the air. She hit the water, creating a wave that splashed over the bay's shores. Chaos watched the water, chuckling when Raven eventually crawled onto a rocky shore north of the tower. She coughed up water, gasping for the breath she had lost in the impact. Chaos landed on the ground just in front of Raven and slipped the tip of her sword under Raven's chin. She lifted the sword, making Raven look up at her.

"You're holding back," she said simply. "I thought you were going to fight me until you knew what to do with me. Don't tell me you're suddenly getting scared." She chuckled again, grinning a wildcat's grin. "Better start fighting for real, little blackbird, or I'll send you to meet your dear Starfire."

The idea that Chaos would even say Starfire's name made Raven's hands clench briefly into white-knuckled fists. She slapped the sword away from her with one hand and put the other flat on the ground for balance as she swung her legs up and out from under herself. Her boot connected with the side of Chaos's head in a kick that sent the demon woman flying.

"Don't you _ever_ say her name," Raven snarled, standing straight. She summoned the sword again, falling back into her stance while her eyes glowed brighter than ever. Chaos stood as well, letting her wings fade from existence now that she was standing on the ground. She tilted her head to the side and popped her neck, repeating the action for the other side of her neck immediately after.

"Why not?" she asked. "It's not like she thought as much of you as you thought of her."

"You don't know that!" Raven snapped.

"And neither do you." Chaos grinned again. "And it's your fault that nobody ever will."

"I know that." Raven's voice had calmed, though it still tore shreds out of her to admit it. Despite that pain, she had come to a realization—an epiphany that made a small smile appear. "I know what I'll do now." She lifted her sword in a dueling salute to Chaos. "I'm going to win this fight." When she rushed forward, Chaos smiled.

A release of self allows one to focus entirely on the battle at hand. Raven's epiphany was how to let go of everything. She let go of the pain of losing Starfire. She let go of her past with Chaos, of her fear of Chaos. The battle had to be won, and Raven suddenly realized that she could do so if she stopped laying burdens upon her back. Her speed, her strength, and her drive finally made her an equal opponent to Chaos. Raven found the power Chaos had so long spoken of and, her heart and hands lightened, took hold of it.

It was a great joy, Chaos found, to see Raven finally come into her own. For years she had labored over the girl, taking pride in her accomplishments and feeling the same kind of hurt at her failures. This battle, however, was what she had waited for. Even though she let herself be beaten, she knew the power was there. Chaos no longer had to worry about Raven.

Blow after blow was landed; slash after slash cut upon skin. Raven advanced, and Chaos gave ground with a smile on her face. A punch to the stomach made Chaos stumble back slightly, and Raven stepped back. Still smiling, Chaos sheathed her sword and spread her arms wide. Rage bubbled up inside Raven again. It would not be enough to simply claim victory, and her anger wanted Chaos dead. With a smile of her own, Raven rushed forward, sword up, to end the fight.

By then, the other Titans had crossed the bay (courtesy of a green whale) to stand on the shore. They arrived in time to see Raven's sword burst out the other side of Chaos's chest.

"You always did manage to make me proud," Chaos said. "Even after all that, you still didn't go for the kill." Raven smiled, letting the sword vanish from its place just below Chaos's collarbone. Though black blood pulsed from it, it was far from a fatal wound. When she looked up at Chaos, the demon woman had already worked her magic to show the face Raven knew well. Raven smiled, the sadness in her eyes belying such an expression.

"I couldn't," she murmured. "I didn't want to lose someone else after Starfire." She stood thinking a moment before continuing. "Even if it's too late, I'll say it now: I love Starfire." Chaos chuckled, and Raven looked at her with a small glare. She did not notice the darkening sky or thunder that rolled across the clouds. "What?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that you're saying it too late," Chaos replied. She reached up and laid one hand over the stab wound, putting pressure on it. Red and white lightning danced on the clouds, striking closer and closer to where the group stood. "I'd actually say you're a little early." The lightning struck the earth next to them, and the light blinded them.

When Raven opened her eyes, she found herself unable to stop staring. Starfire stood only a few paces away, smiling brightly. Not a moment later, Starfire had leapt forward and wrapped her arms around Raven in a tight hug.

"Starfire?" Raven whispered.

"Oh, dearest Raven, I am overjoyed to be reunited with you!" Starfire said with a giggle. Raven sat dumbstruck for a moment or two before tentatively returning the hug. Starfire was real. Alive. Abruptly, the taller young woman stood up and began looking Raven over. Finding nothing, she gave a small cheer and hugged Raven close once more. "You are uninjured! Wonderful!" Savoring the embrace, Raven turned to look at Chaos.

"You didn't hurt her at all," she murmured. Chaos shrugged with one shoulder and winked.

"Just a few tricks," she said. "I was only trying to help, little blackbird."

"I'd have to say you did a fine job, daughter." Raven looked to find a man standing next to Chaos, looking everything like the demon woman. The way he addressed her suddenly clicked in Raven's mind, and her eyes went wide.

"Lucifer?" she asked in a whisper. Lucifer Morningstar bowed his head with a gracious smile, and Raven returned the nod automatically. Chaos looked away suddenly, her smile falling into a frown.

"Gabriel," she grumbled. "What the hell do you want?" Raven followed Chaos's gaze to find another man, standing a few feet away. White wings were caped around his shoulders, equally white and immaculate clothing on his body. His long blond hair was neatly kept, and did not fall into his blue eyes.

"I am here to consecrate her," he said simply, pointing at Raven. "Heaven has decreed her power be permanently unlocked." He took a feather from one wing, walked to Raven, and passed the feather over the gem on her forehead. Raven felt the holy magic take effect, barely realizing that Starfire still held her in her arms.

"Just like Heaven," Chaos snorted. "Take all the credit for the hard work you didn't do." Gabriel looked at her a moment, refusing to let her jibs affect him.

"If you like, I can heal your wounds," he offered.

"Touch me and I'll rip your wings off." He nodded and looked to Raven.

"Use your powers well, child," he murmured. With another nod, he vanished in a flash of white light. Lucifer smiled at Raven, nodded, and vanished in a flash of red light. Raven looked at Chaos, expecting to receive an equally quick goodbye.

"Well, I suppose I should leave," Chaos said. "I need to find someone important." She started to turn, but stopped. "How about saying it now?" She winked and turned, starting off. "See you around, little blackbird." Starfire looked curiously at the young woman she still held in her arms.

"Saying what?" she asked. Raven looked at her—just looked at her bright, beautiful green eyes—and smiled.

"I love you," she murmured. She leaned forward and kissed Starfire gently. When they parted, Starfire's smile grew until she was beaming.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" she said with a giggle. "My feeling is the correct one!" She kissed Raven, and Raven gladly returned it.

—_to be concluded—_


	5. Break Shadow: Epilogue

Break Shadow: Epilogue

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

After the battle had ended, the boys had awkwardly retreated. Starfire gladly remained with Raven, both of them happy to just sit with each other on the roof of Titan's Tower. They watched the sun travel across the sky and the sunset. They watched stars appear from the darkness and the moonrise. After the moon was high over the horizon, Starfire laid her head in Raven's lap with a blush.

"You are as enjoyable to look at as the sky," she said.

"You too," Raven replied. When Starfire's eyes closed from her pleased giggles, Raven touched her forehead. Starfire sank into sleep, and so there they remained for some time.

It was a cool night, with a sweet-scented breeze riding in from the sea. In the dark sky above, the moon was huge and bright. Raven looked down, smiling at Starfire. The alien girl was still soundly sleeping, her head in Raven's lap and a smile on her face. Raven felt her smile grow and combed Starfire's long hair with her fingers. Her happiness was so great, she did not look away from Starfire when she sensed Robin's presence behind them.

"So." His voice was low and strained. Just as the day before, Raven could feel his anger. "I guess…I'll have to get over her." Raven said nothing, unable to reply. "After all that's happened…I really thought she loved me." He sighed. "I still can't believe she decided to be with you."

"Robin?" Raven murmured.

"What?"

"She never said anything about a decision." Robin sighed again, harsher than before. His boots shuffled against the roof as he turned away. He couldn't stand seeing Starfire in someone else's arms any longer. Raven let his anger roll away, instead concentrating on Starfire's peace.

"Raven," Starfire murmured in her sleep. Raven smiled, happy.

—_end—_


	6. Star Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 1

Star-Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." Pablo Neruda owns the poetry I use. I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

The only thing she wanted at that moment was for her sister to die. She sat atop a pile of crates in the dark warehouse, her fists resting on her knees. There was no plan in her mind—she could only think of standing triumphantly over the broken, lifeless body.

Her sister had ruined everything. Vengeance had to be taken, if only for her sanity. She growled low in her throat, energy lighting her hands and eyes with her rising anger. The light that came from the energy illuminated the warehouse. She finally noticed a tall man in dark clothes and a black and orange mask standing at the base of crate pile. Lights flashed on, filling the warehouse with a buzz. With a shout, she hurled a star bolt at the man. He dodged it easily, staring at her with his one blue eye.

"I know who you are," he murmured. "I know what you want. I can help you." Blackfire grinned, eager to listen.

----------

Mankind has proven that some impossible tasks are just extremely difficult. First seen as impossible to conquer, Mount Everest became the greatest challenge for any mountain climber after it was first beaten. There had been a group planning for the climb of a lifetime, but storms had cut said lifetime short.

Storms on the mountain were notorious as killers, but they had intensified to the worst ever seen. The group of climbers was found dead, daggers of ice stabbed into them and ice burns marring their white flesh. Avalanches occurred without aid simply because of the amount of snow and icefall. Terrified, people near the mountain left their homes and hoped that the weather would soon change.

By the time Blackfire was told to go to the highest point on Everest, the storms had been in full force for over a week. She hovered a few thousand feet over the black clouds, scanning them for the eye Slade had promised would be there. When she found the storm's eye, she dropped down into it and stopped, hovering just above the snow.

"You aren't exactly what I was expecting," she murmured. Sitting in the snow, on the highest peak of Everest, was Chaos Morningstar. Her bare heels buried in the snow, Chaos ignored Blackfire and took a long drink from the steaming, handle-less mug in her clawed hands. After she lowered the mug from her lips, she sighed.

"I thought," she said, "that I'd be able to work up here without anyone bothering me. I really thought my storms would make sure of it." She looked up at the blue sky over her head and frowned. "Evidently I need to put something up there, too." With an angry sigh, she spoke again and said, "I'm busy."

"Doing what?" Blackfire demanded with a scoff. "You're sitting on your ass in the snow drinking!" Before she could react, a piece of ice appeared from thin air and shot by her face, slicing open a cut on her cheek. Her body spun automatically, her hand flying to the wound. When she pulled her hand away and saw blood on her fingers, a growl built in her chest.

She let it go as a scream of fury and whirled around. Energy flew from her hands, only to be stopped by a wall of black flames. A clawed hand closed around her neck from behind and forced her into the snow, face first. Blackfire struggled briefly, but stopped when the hand squeezed hard enough to make her vision fade into multi-colored darkness.

"I'm sitting because I'm concentrating," Chaos hissed in her ear. "And I'm drinking tea because I'm thirsty. I'm trying to find someone, and you're interrupting me. You better have a good reason for being here, or I'm going to see how far down the mountain a limp body with a broken spine can be thrown."

"Well, you obviously like to kill," Blackfire panted with a smirk. Her heart was thrashing against her ribs painfully, her breath barely able to reach her lungs. In a way, she was grateful for her temporary blindness. The last thing she wanted at that moment was to look at Chaos. "I came to see if you'd kill someone for me."

"What makes you think I'd kill anyone for you?" Chaos said amusedly.

"Kill my sister, and—and—there'll be one less 'hero' in the world!" Blackfire knew she was throwing out pathetic arguments, but the lack of oxygen to her brain and the claws digging into her throat kept her from thinking of anything better. "It'll be easy! Just kill Starfire—" Ice tore a gash in her left arm, and her words ended in a scream. Chaos lifted her from the ground and tossed her away. Blackfire looked up, paling in pain, and then in fear when she saw Chaos. Six glowing eyes glared at her, a sneer showing fangs aimed at her.

"Get the hell out of here before I rip off your legs," Chaos snarled. Blackfire's wide eyes blinked, and Chaos had only two eyes and a smirk on her face. "I'd say do your own dirty work, but you'll never be able to hurt Starfire."

"Why do you say that?" Blackfire asked, regretting the moments she continued to spend in Chaos's presence.

"Raven will never let you." Blackfire stared, unable to understand.

Are you saying they're together?" she asked.

"They're in love," Chaos replied. "Now leave." She put a hand on the hilt of the sword at her side. Blackfire's eyes went wide again, and she leapt into the air. Chaos watched her fly away, smirking. She kicked snow over the splatter of blood from Blackfire's arm, sat back down, and closed her eyes. "Now where are you?"

----------

The sky was dark with rain clouds in Black City. Thunderstorms had dominated the city for the last few days, and the Teen Titans recognized certain traits that came about with long storms. Since rain had not come for many months, the roads were slick—too slick to attempt any high-speed escapes. The lightning stopped any ideas for rooftop jaunts. And, of course, few people liked to go out in such a strong storm. Crime was slow.

Thusly, the Titans were taking a well-deserved break. Beast Boy and Cyborg had gone into the city briefly to rent an action-filled, science fiction comedy. After they dried themselves off, they dimmed the lights and started the movie.

The first ten minutes of the movie were devoted to vague exposition, and Cyborg and Beast Boy took the opportunity to divvy up the junk food and popcorn. Once the action and humor finally came into play, the boys cheered and hooted, occasionally sharing a three-way high-five whenever the explosion was large enough or the joke funny enough to warrant it.

Starfire, having learned that Earth filmmakers knew very little about life on other planets, did not comment on the fact that she had never heard of any of the aliens featured in the movie. She laughed along with the boys, enjoying the movie even if some of the jokes made little sense to her. Next to her sat Raven, eyes fixed on a large poetry anthology in her hands.

When the movie had started, Raven sat down in her usual place: slightly apart from the others. Starfire had moved from her usual place between Cyborg and Robin, sitting down next to Raven with a smile and a blush on her face. Once Raven returned the smile, Starfire scooted closer to her. Throughout the movie, Starfire moved closer to Raven, until she was snuggled comfortably against the shorter young woman. After a moment of thought, she laid her cheek atop Raven's head and smiled when Raven did not move away.

Raven had not stopped smiling since Starfire sat down next to her. Warmth came to her from Starfire's closeness, as well as Starfire's emotions. The happiness Starfire felt was easy to sense, and her caring was heaven to receive. As she read her book, she came across a love poem. Instead of dismissing it, Raven read it curiously. Her smile did not waver when she was done, but her eyes began to glow, and Starfire heard Raven's voice in her mind.

"_Listen to this,_" Raven's voice said gently.

"_Before I loved you, love, nothing was my own._

_I wandered through the streets, among objects._

_Nothing mattered or had a name._

_The world was made of air, which waited._

_I knew rooms full of ashes,_

_Tunnels where the moon lived,_

_Rough warehouses that growled 'get lost',_

_Questions that existed in the sand._

_Everything was empty, dead, mute,_

_Fallen abandoned, and decayed:_

_Inconceivably alien, it all_

_Belonged to someone else - to no one:_

_Till your beauty and your poverty_

_Filled the autumn plentiful with gifts._"

"_Think of it from me. Always._" Starfire blushed a brilliant shade of pink and wrapped her arms around Raven in a tight hug.

On the other side of the couch, Robin stared at the TV screen. The next time he laughed at a joke, his laughter was somewhat forced, and faded away quickly. The faint scowl that had been on his face for the past week reappeared, and he did nothing to hide it. He let his jealousy course through him, let it stab at the deep parts of his heart. Over the years, he had lived his life taking things head-on, and his emotions were no different.

Fighting his way through his jealousy would work far better than letting it pool and fester within him. Robin knew what would happen at the end of the battle. Starfire would always hold a place in his heart, but he would be able to let her have her happiness. Though he did not like it, it was how things were.

----------

"Slade!" Blackfire shouted. She punched a crate in her anger, and the wood exploded into splinters. She had returned to Black City and the warehouse, and her foul mood was not helped by the weather. "Slade! Get out here, now!"

"I see you're back." Blackfire turned about to find Slade striding out of the shadows. He stopped a few feet from her, arms held behind his back. "How was your little trip?"

"I nearly got killed!" she shrieked, pointing at the bruises on her neck. Slade said nothing for a moment, looking without blinking.

"She did not agree," he murmured.

"No, she didn't!" Blackfire destroyed another crate, this time kicking it into a far wall. "She said something about Raven and Starfire being in love, and threatened to tear off my legs!" Something glittered in Slade's eye at the information regarding the two heroines, but he remained quiet. "Why the hell did you send me to her?"

"I knew she would refuse," he replied.

"You better have a good reason for putting my neck on the line," Blackfire snarled, energy lighting her eyes and hands.

"Consider it a test," Slade said simply. "I wanted to see how you would deal with a demon, and you passed." Blackfire sneered at him and thought of how lucky he was with a mask on his face. A smile was in his voice, and had she seen it, she would have ripped out his teeth. "Go to the darkest part of this city. There is a woman there who has a price. Give her this, and she'll do what you ask." He held out a blank business card with numbers neatly written on it. Blackfire snatched it from his hand, starting toward the open door of the warehouse.

"By the way," Slade called after her, "she happens to be a demon."

By the time she found the underbelly of the city, Blackfire's scowl was nearly permanent. High in the air, she realized that she had no idea of where to find the woman Slade spoke of. Her teeth ground together as she landed in the middle of an alley. A barrel fire was going, protected by garbage bags spread over the fire escape above it. When the man standing near the fire looked up and saw Blackfire's glowing eyes, he was too frightened to run. He held up his hands when Blackfire grabbed his shirt collar, eyes going wide in terror.

"I'm looking for a monster," Blackfire said simply. "Where can I find her?" Angered by the man's sputtering, she held her free hand up and let energy surround it. "Tell me!"

"Th-that way!" the man whimpered, pointing behind himself. "An empty apartment building! She lives there! Please—please don't hurt me!" Blackfire sighed and shoved the man against the alley wall, leaping into the air and flying away. It only took a few minutes to find the building, and only because the rain ran into her eyes. The building was decrepit, with only one window lit. Blackfire entered the building through a broken window some distance away from the lit one. Her sudden entrance, she rationalized, could result in an attack.

Once safely inside the room, she looked about. Her eyes were used to the dark by then, but she was not at all prepared for what she saw. Empty bottles lay scattered on the floor. Dark stains covered every wall, the floor, and even the ceiling. Shards of glass were embedded in the walls. Patterns of four parallel gouges ran in every direction. Small holes, in fours and fives, dotted the walls and ceiling.

Scowl fading into a grimace, Blackfire lifted off the ground to keep from stepping on anything and hovered out into the hallway. The stains and wounded walls continued as far as she could see. With a hard swallow, Blackfire turned and started toward the light at the end of the hallway. She could hear nothing but the rain and distant thunderclaps after lightning struck. When she came to the light-filled room, she paused. There was nothing but the doorframe to knock on, as all the doors in the building had been ripped off their hinges. She shook her head and hovered slowly into the room.

"What the hell do you want?" a voice demanded from behind her. Blackfire froze, raising her hands much like the man she threatened had done, when the sharp tip of a weapon was pressed against the back of her neck.

"For someone to die," Blackfire replied. She reached for her belt and retrieved the card Slade had given her, holding it above her shoulder. It was taken from her hand, and Blackfire felt claws—purposefully, she was sure—trail over her skin. After a moment, the weapon was taken away and Blackfire was shoved into the room.

"Slade again." Blackfire spun about, watching as the demon woman walked into the light. She lazily sheathed a broadsword at her side, red eyes looking at the card in her clawed hand. Neatly cut and combed long gray hair was tied at the base of her neck with a black strip of cloth, errant strands tucked behind pointed ears. Her clothes were contrastingly ragged: a red, short-sleeved shirt with no trimmings, and tight, slashed-at-the-knees blue jeans. A tail wagged back and forth around her legs.

"Never wants to do his own dirty work," she murmured. She looked up at Blackfire, and the alien flinched despite herself. "And neither do you." She shrugged and walked past Blackfire, sitting down on the table in the center of the room. "My name is Kali. Tell me your name, the target, and your terms." She grabbed an unopened bottle of wine, ripped the cork out with her fangs, and spat it away. Blackfire stared a moment as she started to drink the wine without taking any breaths.

"My name is Blackfire," she said. "I want you to kill my sister Starfire." Her scowl returned at the memory of Chaos's insults. "And anyone who gets in your way." Kali stopped drinking and looked at Blackfire, eyes narrow and searching.

"You've asked someone else," she said abruptly. "From the looks of you, they didn't like it. Who did you ask?"

"Some demon named Chaos," Blackfire grumbled. Kali jerked, the wine bottle slipping from her fingers. Her tail grabbed it before it could drop too far, and her eyes widened slightly.

"You saw Chaos?" she asked, her voice soft. "Where was she?" Blackfire smirked at her, never one to pass up an obvious opportunity.

"I'll tell you once you kill Starfire," she replied. Kali gave her a smile that sent ice running down every nerve.

"Manipulative little bitch," she growled. "Anything else?"

"Make Starfire suffer," Blackfire said. Kali chuckled and took the bottle from her tail.

"You've got yourself a deal." She took a quick swig of the wine. "But I'm doing this my way. You can't give me a time limit, and if you interfere because you think I'm being slow…well, I've got to follow _your_ terms, now don't I?" She chuckled again. "Don't worry. She'll suffer and die." She began to drink again, and Blackfire took it as a cue to leave.

Kali polished off the bottle and threw it at the wall. She watched it shatter with a smile before lying down on the table. A happy smile came to her as her demon blood destroyed the alcohol's toxins and left her with the feeling of a full stomach and a sweetly bitter taste on her tongue. She turned her head and looked out the window, watching the rain and lightning.

"Chaos," she murmured. "It's been years. I wonder if you've changed much." Her eyes suddenly grew sad, but her smile remained. "Are you still my madness?" Thunder and rain broke the silence that followed, and Kali sighed. She closed her eyes and dove into the darkness behind her eyelids.

----------

Raven paused in her reading and looked down at her left hand. She laughed quietly, finding that she had been combing Starfire's hair with her fingers for quite some time. It was late into the night by then, and Starfire was asleep, her head once more in Raven's lap.

The movie had ended hours ago. Robin had been the first to leave, giving a massive, obviously fake yawn and claiming he was tired. Cyborg had actually grown tired and left soon after, dragging a hyperactive Beast Boy away by the scruff of his neck before he could infuriate Raven. The two heroines were left alone, and neither could say they disliked the arrangement.

Starfire had asked Raven to read her more poetry. She had put her head in Raven's lap and smiled sweetly at her, and Raven could hardly refuse. They stayed there, Raven reading and Starfire listening, for nearly an hour before Starfire slipped off to sleep. Raven read on silently, happy to just take in Starfire's warmth.

How could she ever explain what she was feeling? For the first time in her life, she did not have to fear that her powers would suddenly rage out of control. She could finally _feel_. She could feel freely, with no need to hold anything back. She could hold Starfire close, could kiss her, could simply _be_ with her. It was like flying, this freedom, but so much _more_.

Raven yawned, finally tired enough to sleep. She started to close her book, but stopped to read one last poem. Her smile returned easily when she finished the poem, and, even though Starfire was fast asleep, she began to read aloud.

"You are the daughter of the sea, oregano's first cousin.

Swimmer, your body is pure as the water;

Cook, your blood is quick as the soil.

Everything you do is full of flowers, rich with the earth.

Your eyes go out toward the water, and the waves rise;

Your hands go out to the earth and the seeds swell;

You know the deep essence of water and the earth,

Conjoined in you like a formula for clay.

Naiad: cut your body into turquoise pieces,

They will bloom resurrected in the kitchen.

This is how you become everything that lives.

And so at last, you sleep, in the circle of my arms

That push back the shadows so that you can rest—

Vegetables, seaweed, herbs: the foam of your dreams."

She put the book down and took Starfire's face in her hands gently. Just as gently, she lifted Starfire up and leaned down. Raven's lips pressed against Starfire's with flower-petal softness. Time passed, and Raven parted from Starfire, laying the other young woman back down.

"I love you, Starfire," Raven whispered. "I love you." She settled into the couch and closed her eyes with a smile. One hand cradling Starfire's head and the other holding Starfire's hand, she started to drift to sleep.

Until, that is, Starfire began to cry out in her dreams.

—_to be continued—_


	7. Star Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 2

Star-Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

"What, pray tell, haunts your dreams, young champion? What are your fears? What crafts your nightmares?"

Starfire opened her eyes and found herself standing in the middle of a hallway. Red light flooded into the hallway from rooms with no doors. She automatically began to look about, trying to learn as much as she could as quickly as she could. The stains on the wall told her enough, and she lifted off the ground. She flew into one of the room and out the window, stopping dead when she looked out at the world.

The ruins of Black City stretched on as far as her green eyes could see. A red moon hung in the sky above, casting down bloody light. The wicked laugh that suddenly echoed in the dead world made the chill rushing up and down Starfire's spine increase its speed. Her fear drew strength away from her, and she slowly descended to the ground.

"I see! You fear death and destruction—like most people. I'm surprised. I thought a hero's nightmares would be a little different."

"What are you?" Starfire shouted. More laughter echoed off of broken buildings. Footsteps came from a dark alley in front of her. Starfire pushed her fear away and lifted her hands, willing star bolts to her hands and energy to her eyes. The footsteps continued for a time, and then stopped abruptly.

"A demon," the voice whispered in her ear from behind her. Starfire screamed and spun about. She tripped over her feet and hit the ground, looking up quickly at her enemy.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What is this horrible place?" The demon woman grinned at her, flashing fangs, and bowed low at the waist.

"My name is Kali," she said. She gestured at the ruins bathed in red. "This is your nightmare. You supplied the world, and I brought you into it."

"How?" Kali laughed, Starfire flinching at the sound.

"I said it before, Starfire," Kali said. "I'm a demon. It's nothing for me to find all your dreams and nightmares."

"Why are you doing this?" Starfire asked. Kali walked to her and crouched down, leaning forward until she was mere inches from Starfire. Though Starfire could only see her blood-red eyes, she could imagine the wicked grin that followed the demon woman's laugh.

"Quick answer, I'm going to kill you," Kali replied. "Long answer, I'm going to make you suffer before killing you." Starfire choked as a clawed hand snapped closed around her neck, squeezing tight. "You're actually a special case. I make everyone suffer before they die, but your sister specifically requested it."

She paused, seeing that Starfire's eyes were beginning to glow. The blast came, but Kali moved quicker. She bent backwards, the energy missing the skin of her chin by a hair's breadth. A moment later, Starfire felt herself being pulled down. The sight of Kali smirking and vanishing into the ground confused her, and so she did not react in time to keep her face from smashing into the rocky ground.

Anger immediately flared within her, spreading from the center of her chest as it always did. She stood up, eyes and hands alight, and looked about. There was no sign of Kali, though she had not expected as much. Starfire rose high into the air to widen her field of vision. The nothingness of the dead city was all she saw.

"Why do you speak of my sister?" she shouted. Her voice echoed, and her question was answered with another laugh. Before she could think to look about, pain unlike any she had ever experienced before erupted from her back. She screamed, her back arching and her hands pressing hard against the pain to try and smother it. Her hands slipped against hot wetness—blood.

"She's the one who's paying me to do this!" Starfire whirled, seeing Kali standing on the roof of a building with all its windows smashed. She was smiling, holding a broadsword in one hand. Blood—Starfire's blood—was slowly dripping from its sharp tip. Starfire hurled star bolts at the demon woman, and she vanished in an explosion of concrete and energy.

Claws ripped four lines in her bare stomach, and Starfire screamed again. She clutched at her stomach, tears welling in her eyes. She turned, finding Kali sitting, unharmed, on the jagged edge of a broken skyscraper.

"My sister would not pay for you to hurt me!" Starfire shouted. She whimpered at the pain her cries caused, closing her eyes and letting the tears come. "My sister is not like that!" She felt the sword slice a line down the length of her right leg and howled again.

"People change!" Kali called out conversationally. "She wants you dead!" She looked at the young woman hovering in the air, watched the blood fall towards the ground from her wounds. She smirked and leapt from where she stood, too quickly for Starfire to track her. As she passed by Starfire, she reached out casually and dug her claws into her left thigh. The new injury brought a new scream, and Starfire let the tears wash over her cheeks.

"My sister is not like that," she said again. Pain pulled strength from every part of her. It was taking all her will to remain in the air, and she was barely accomplishing it. "I know she wishes to have revenge, but she would not wish me…_killed_. She is my sister."

Kali was able to hear the whispers, and paused. Surprise was all she allowed herself to feel—she could give no pity. The thought that Starfire would still believe in her sister Blackfire and all but spit in the face of fact was fairly amazing. The thought that someone could still have a place in Starfire's heart despite all that had happened made Kali's heart clench painfully for a moment. The moment passed. She leapt again, slamming her fist against Starfire's left cheek. The heroine spun slightly at the impact, and Kali turned in time to see her start to fall.

Falling is horrible. A fall cannot be stopped, and there is no way to escape the knowledge that the fall is happening. No matter where one looks, the fall is brought to the mind instantly. The ground rushes up, or the sky falls away. Everything between ground and sky moves too quickly. Even if one's eyes are closed, the damning pull of gravity reminds the mind what is happening. The worst thing about falling, however, is not knowing what may lie at the end of it.

As her strength and her will finally gave in to pain, Starfire suddenly understood the terror of falling. Her eyes went wide as the red sky came into clear view. She tried to find it inside herself to at least slow her descent, but all thoughts were knocked clear out of her head almost instantly. With the kick Kali gave to her stomach after leaping one last time, it took Starfire less than a quarter of a second to slam into the ground.

For once, the thing to give way to the impact was not the ground, but Starfire. Many of her bones threatened to break, but they held. She lay still, unable to move and barely able to breathe. Kali landed in a crouch a few feet away, sword in hand, and stood up easily. She looked Starfire over and sighed.

"You're one hell of a lot tougher than you look," she admitted. "I didn't hear anything snap, and you're conscious. Still." She walked to stand over Starfire and took her sword in both hands, lifting it up. "No one's ever walked away from a sword through the heart."

Starfire thought her tears had run out, but new ones still flowed from her eyes. She lay beaten and broken, moments away from death, and the thing she felt most was sadness. That death would come so quickly for her after she had found everything she wanted from the world made her want to curl up in a ball and sob. Pain and terror kept her where she was, but she still was able to cry.

High above, the moon turned white. Kali saw the sudden shift of color in the nightmare world and looked up at the sky in confusion. Starfire was just as confused, but nearly started to weep with joy when she heard a voice speak.

"Get away from her." Starfire let her head fall to one side, a smile managing its way onto her face. Standing only a stone's throw away was everything she wanted from the world: Raven. Though her hood was up and shadows were cast upon her face, Starfire could still see those wonderfully lovely dark eyes.

"I wasn't told there'd be someone like you protecting her," Kali snarled. Raven's eyes lit up, and a tendril of dark magic lashed out. The magic hit Kali in the middle of her back, flinging her into a building. The building, though a ruin, held just as strongly as the ground had for Starfire, and the demon woman slumped to the ground after crashing into it. She stood up slowly, shaking her head.

"That's your warning," Raven murmured. Kali chuckled, turning slightly to look at Raven with a smirk.

"You too, then," she said. She vanished, and the ruins around them went with her. Raven rushed immediately to Starfire, falling to her knees and gathering her in her arms.

"Wake up, Starfire!" Raven whispered in her ear. "Wake up! Wake up!"

----------

Starfire woke with a gasp, her body jerking into a sitting position. She panted for breath, looking around for any sign of where she was. Next to her knelt Raven, eyes wide with worry. Starfire threw her arms around Raven's neck, hugging her tight.

"Dearest Raven!" she panted. "I had the most horrible of nightmares!" A flash of pain rose up from her stomach, and her eyes went wide. She took her arms away from Raven and pressed suddenly shaking hands against the source of the pain. Her fingers and palms came away wet. Starfire brought her hands up to look at them just as lightning flashed outside. She saw the red blood and looked down at herself. The lightning flashed again and showed her that every wound from her nightmare was real. She started to scream, tears welling over from her eyes.

"Starfire!" When she did not respond to the call of her name, Raven wrapped her arms around Starfire and pulled her close. The touch reached her, and Starfire buried her face in the crux of Raven's neck. She held onto Raven like a lost child, strength gone from her as her body shook with her sobs. The main door to the room hissed open, and Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg rushed into the room.

"What happened?" Robin demanded, vaulting over the back of the couch. He froze, eyes wide, at the sight of Starfire so injured. Beast Boy grew pale under his fur, and Cyborg, feeling suddenly ill, closed his mouth tight.

"A demon!" Starfire gasped between sobs. "A demon attacked me!" For a few long, cold moments, Starfire's sobs and moans were the only sound in the room. After those moments had passed, Raven put her fingers under Starfire's chin, lifting gently to make the other young woman look at her.

"Starfire?" she murmured. "Starfire, listen to me. It's all right—you're safe. I need you to calm down. Focus. Find your center." Starfire sniffed and swallowed hard, nodding slightly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Repeat after me: Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Starfire swallowed again, ignoring the pain.

"Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos," she said. "Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos." Raven smiled, turning her attention to the wounds. She concentrated, calling up her magic. White energy surrounded her left hand, and she put her right hand at the top of Starfire's back.

"Good," she said encouragingly. "Keep going." Starfire nodded, tears still dripping from her eyelashes, and continued to murmur the mantra. Raven laid her left hand on the slashes on Starfire's stomach. Starfire winced, but kept speaking. The split skin came back together, leaving no trace of injury but the smears of blood. Smiling in relief, Raven began to heal the other wounds.

"Chaos can attack us in our _dreams_?" Beast Boy shrieked. "Dude! She's a real-life 'Freddy Krueger'! We're all gonna die!"

"It _wasn't_ Chaos," Raven said, her voice harder than she had intended. The wounds on Starfire's front healed, she switched hands, putting her left on Starfire's shoulder and her right on the cut on Starfire's back. Starfire opened her eyes when Raven took her hand away, the pain fading to aching echoes.

"It was not Chaos," Starfire said, her voice quiet. "It was a demon named Kali." The memory of the nightmare came back, as did her tears. "She claimed my sister…that my sister wants…no!" Her breath hitched, her voice breaking. "My sister would not want me dead!" She reached for Raven again, laying her head on Raven's shoulder. Raven held her close, rubbing her back gently.

"It'll be all right," she murmured. "Come on—you need to get some rest." She stood up, Starfire mimicking her quickly to keep holding on. With a small gesture, the blood that had dripped onto the floor beneath Starfire vanished. Raven and Starfire left the room, and Beast Boy and Cyborg followed soon after. Robin remained, staring at where the blood had been.

----------

"May I rest in your room?" Raven looked at Starfire, the hand not currently in the taller young woman's grasp pausing over the control panel for the door to Starfire's room. Starfire was looking away, a small blush on her face. "Please. I would…feel safer if I could stay with you."

"Of course," Raven replied. As they both started down the hall, Raven finally noticed that Starfire was walking on the ground instead of floating. She felt surprise for only a moment, seeing that Starfire had yet-unshed tears in her eyes. The sight made her blood want to boil. Instead, she squeezed Starfire's hand reassuringly.

They came to Raven's room, and she tapped the button to open the door. It was dark inside, and Starfire paused. Raven only had to think and lights turned on. Abruptly, Starfire let go of Raven and walked through the door. She stood silently in the center of the room, her back to Raven.

"We can go back to your room," Raven said. "I know it's—dark." Starfire shook her head and turned around.

"It is _your_ darkness," she murmured. "It is you, and it is comforting." She hugged herself and sat down on the edge of Raven's bed. "It feels as if you yourself were holding me close, never to let go." Raven stopped. She stopped moving, stopped thinking, stopped breathing. She simply stood and felt.

That pure acceptance of who she was—something she personally had not found—touched her deeper than anything she had ever been told before. That Starfire took comfort in her embrace made her smile. Warmth coursed through her, and she would have stood forever basking in it had she not seen the ugly bruise beginning to develop on Starfire's left cheek.

She crossed the room and sat next to Starfire, calling on her healing magic once more. When she laid her hand on Starfire's cheek, Starfire leaned into the touch. The bruise faded, but Raven did not take her hand away. She savored touching Starfire, fingers lightly caressing her soft skin. When Starfire sighed suddenly, Raven started to pull away her hand. Starfire quickly put a hand over Raven's, holding to her cheek.

"The demon said my sister paid her to kill me," Starfire whispered. Her false calmness was lost when Raven kissed her. She whimpered into the kiss, bowing her head when they parted. "How could that be true?"

"I don't know," Raven answered. She brushed the wet trails tears had left behind away with her thumb.

"Do you believe my sister could do such a thing?" Raven paused before answering truthfully.

"Yes." Her heart clenched at the soft sob Starfire let out.

"But why would she?" Starfire whispered. Raven's hands took hold of her shoulders and she looked up.

"I don't know," Raven said again. "I've only met Blackfire twice, and she tried to hurt you both times. I don't know what kind of relationship you two had in the past, but…people change."

"That is what the demon said," Starfire murmured ruefully. Her rebuttal was not nearly as vehement as before, and her eyes—for the first time in Raven's memory—hardened in thought and dismay. It lasted only a moment before her eyes went wide and her body began to shake. "The demon." She buried her face in her hands, her voice suddenly rising as she cried, "I do not wish to go back to sleep!"

She looked up as Raven took both her hands. She watched as Raven laid gentle kisses in both her palms. With that simple gesture, Starfire felt loved, protected, _safe_.

"What can I do to help you?" Raven asked. "Just tell me. I'll do whatever you ask."

"How can I fight something that attacks me while I sleep?" Starfire asked desperately in return. "I was unable to do anything, and if the demon returns…" She fell silent for a moment. "How do I stop my nightmare from returning?" Raven kissed her again and smiled when she pulled away.

"I'll watch over your dreams," she promised. "I won't let Kali get in to hurt you."

"Will you stay with me?" Starfire asked. Raven nodded, and Starfire pulled her close. They lay down on the bed, Raven spreading her cloak over both of them. It took some time, but with Raven near, Starfire calmed. Her eyes fluttered shut, her breath slowing. Raven smiled as Starfire fell back to sleep and allowed her own eyes to close, but not before whispering a spell.

----------

Kali opened her eyes, scowling. She sat up on the table and winced when a twinge shot up her back.

"Dammit," she growled. "First she interferes, and now she shuts me out of my own world." She reached around and rubbed her back. Touching an indent in her skin, she paused and followed the indent—a scar—to her front. Kali idly traced the scar in its X pattern, her tail doing the same on her back.

"Thanks, Chaos," she muttered bitterly. "Not only do I get a never-ending scar, I get a damn target on my back." She sighed, resting her hands on her knees and letting her tail curl around her waist. "That girl's the only other person who's been able to hurt me in my world. Everywhere I turn, I keep coming back to you, Chaos." Kali closed her eyes tightly, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them.

"You left me," she whispered. "You hurt me, and then you left me." She groaned and put her hands on the back of her neck. "Why did you leave? I still love you." Silence was all she heard, and it made her look out the window. The rain had finally stopped, and the moon was shining brightly. Kali's scowl returned as she stood from the table, making sure her sword was at her side.

"I need to kill something," she snarled.

—_to be continued—_


	8. Star Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 3

Star-Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 3

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

"Normally I'd say that we've actually seen anything like this, but for once we haven't." The Teen Titans stood by and watched as Black City's police chief typed in the code for the bank vault's lock. "There's no evidence of entry. They didn't get through the door with the code, as there's no log time entered in the computer between when it was opened last night by the bank manager and now. There's no damage in the vault or in the surrounding walls. Whoever did it pretty much walked through the walls and grabbed everything."

The vault door started to swing open automatically, as it was too heavy to be opened by hand. The police chief stepped away, allowing the Titans to start their examination. Robin strode into the vault itself, looking about. It was clean, which was exactly the problem. No cash reserves were in sight, and he assumed the safe deposit boxes were empty as well. He walked out of the vault and looked at the police chief, noticing the pallor of her face.

"That's not all, is it?" he asked. She sighed and looked away with a frown.

"There was a record number of murders last night," she answered. "We're not sure of how many in total there are. My officers are still finding bodies." Robin put a hand to his chin, eyes narrowing in thought.

"This is all…convenient," he murmured. He turned to glare at the vault, thoughts fitting together in his mind. "The murders are more than enough to bring us into the city, but the robbery seems like insurance for us to be here." He went quiet, covering his mouth in concentration.

"Not seems. It was insurance." All the Titans turned, but only Starfire and Raven recognized the voice. They were in time to see a sword burst from the police chief's chest. Eyes wide and horrified, the woman stared at the blade in her body. Her legs went limp and she slid off the sword, collapsing on the ground. She looked up, seeing a gray-haired, red-eyed woman crouching down over her.

"If you were wondering, the final count with you, the five men outside, and everyone from last night comes to thirty-three." The woman's grin was the last thing the police officer saw.

"You!" Starfire shouted. "You are the demon!" Rage built in her, and the star bolts flew from her hands. Kali danced between the blasts, moving progressively closer. She abruptly vanished, and Starfire screamed when a hand grabbed her ankle. Before anyone could react, she was pulled down through the floor and vanished. Raven dropped to her knees immediately, waving a hand over the floor. The Titans leapt down into the hole created by her magic, falling into the familiar system of tunnels under the city. They landed in a central hub, four separate paths leading off in an X shape.

"Everyone take a path," Robin commanded.

"Wait," Raven said. Beast Boy and Cyborg stopped, half-turned away, to look back at Raven. "This isn't another criminal with super-powers. Kali is a demon—splitting up makes us easy targets."

"Starfire could be getting hurt while we stand here!" Robin snapped. "Kali must have gone down one of these paths, and splitting up is the quickest way to find her and Starfire!"

"We're not trying to find Kali!" Robin jerked at the anger in Raven's voice. "We're trying to save Starfire!" She lowered her voice, but it did not lose its edge. "All you're doing is refusing to listen to reason to face down what you think is the newest threat—the newest challenge. It's not the same thing. It's not a challenge or a threat—it's the safety of your friend. You can't keep looking at this the way you have been. Your stubbornness won't change that Starfire's well being needs to come first."

Robin glared at her before wheeling about. He started down a tunnel without a word. Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at Raven.

"Go after him," she murmured. They both nodded and turned, but Cyborg paused as Raven rose into the air and settled herself in a meditative position.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked.

"Find Starfire." Cyborg nodded and went after Beast Boy and Robin. Raven closed her eyes and focused.

----------

Robin would not admit that he heard the second meaning in Raven's words. He would not accept that he understood it completely. He stormed through the tunnel, eyes narrow. His anger dulled his senses; he did not see the fist swinging at his head until it was too late to dodge. The punch sent him flying off his feet, spinning him head over heels so he landed on his stomach in the water. He struggled for a moment, but let his eyes close.

Starfire was kissing him hard, her hand closed tight in his hair. She shoved him away, demanding that he leave her alone. He watched as she walked directly to Raven and hugged her with a bright, cheery smile. He turned away from them.

"Wow. I didn't even have to try to bring that into your head." Robin looked up. Kali stood a few feet away, watching as Starfire and Raven held each other. She turned to him and smirked. "A little frustrated that you didn't get the girl, bird boy?"

"Shut up," Robin growled.

"Want me to make her kiss you again?" Kali asked. "I can, you know. It might not be the real girl." She leaned toward him, her grin growing wider. "But it was still better than nothing, wasn't it?"

"Shut up."

"Admit it. You liked that kiss, even if it wasn't what you thought it was. It was probably some strange little method for her to learn English. Anyway, it doesn't matter. All that matters is you didn't get the girl, and you're being pissy about it. Would you like it if I got rid of your competition?"

"SHUT UP!" Robin lunged at Kali, a kick aimed for her head. She grabbed his foot and tossed him casually away. He flipped in the air and landed on his feet, immediately taking his extendable staff from his utility belt.

"Ooh, I finally got a reaction," Kali said mockingly. "I wonder what kind of reaction I'll get when I say that she's going to die slowly and painfully?" Robin leapt at her with a shout, swinging his staff at her shoulder. In a blur, she drew her sword and blocked the swing. It only took a twitch of her wrist to slice through the metal staff, and a mere thought to land a hard kick in the boy wonder's stomach. He stepped back, wincing, but stood straight quickly.

"I don't care who Starfire's with!" he shouted. "I won't let you hurt my friends!" He spun the staff and extended its other end, rushing at her again. She dodged the thrust at her chest with a sidestep, bringing her knee into his chin. He stumbled back, dizzied, and managed to avoid getting his arm lopped off. Nonetheless, he received a slash on his shoulder and a cruel smile.

"It's a noble thought," Kali chuckled. "But it doesn't mean anything." She vanished and reappeared in front of him. Robin hit the ground, unable to register anything else after being struck so hard in the temple with the pommel of her sword. "She's still going to die." Robin let his eyes close again.

----------

Raven sensed Starfire. She was close—in the level just below. She was lying prone and still, her eyes closed. Raven let her body fade into darkness and flew down into the large chamber, returning to flesh and putting her feet on the ground. Just before her was Starfire, and she could see the rise and fall of her chest. Alive.

Relief flooded her, and she let out a sigh. She would have started towards Starfire, but ducked instead. Kali's swing went clear over her head, and the demon woman stumbled slightly. She recovered smoothly, however, turning to face Raven with a smirk.

"You're certainly better than you look," she said. "I could have sworn that I was silent."

"You were," Raven replied. "You're just predictable."

"Pretty confident for someone who's still got to get past a demon, aren't you?" Raven took a few steps back, summoning her sword.

"I've beaten worse."

"Really. Who?" Her voice had been bored, but when she saw the stance Raven took, her eyes widened.

"Chaos Morningstar," Raven said.

"Who the _hell_ are you to say you've even _heard of_ Chaos?" Kali snarled, hands tensing. "You're nothing but a half-breed! I'll rip out your tongue for even saying her name!" She leapt at Raven, missing and hitting the ground when Raven dodged. With a shout, she pulled her sword out of the ground and spun about.

"Why does it matter?" Raven asked. "Why do you care?"

"The reason most people care!" Kali snapped. "She was my lover, and here you are imitating her fighting style and claiming you've beaten her!"

"I have beaten her," Raven murmured. "And I'm not imitating her style. She taught me it." Kali snorted, standing straight.

"So you 'beat' her when she 'taught' you how to fight," she said with a dismissive shrug. "How old were you when you had this dream? Six?"

"I fought her a week ago near Titan's Tower." Raven had not expected Kali to drop her sword, but she kept on her guard. When a wave of hurt and despair washed over her, she paused. Kali crouched down to pick up her sword, avoiding her eyes.

"She was in the city," she muttered. She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. When she looked at Raven, her eyes were tired and empty. "I'll cut you a deal. Tonight at midnight, you come to the mountains and bring Starfire with you. I'll be waiting there with her sister. They can settle their family issues on their own, and you and I can finish what we've started."

"And the catch?" Kali's wicked smile returned, if briefly.

"If you don't, I'll keep hunting Starfire until she's dead." She turned around and walked at the wall. She paused momentarily to say, "Midnight in the mountains. Don't be late." Then she was through the wall and gone. Raven stared at the wall where she had vanished through for a few moments, but turned her attention to Starfire.

She strode to where she lay on the ground and put a hand to Starfire's head. With that touch, she learned there were no injuries to attend to; Starfire was only unconscious. Letting her sword vanish, Raven lifted Starfire into her arms.

----------

"Dude, I'm telling you he's gonna be mad if you do that!"

"But we need to wake him up! You always say it would work on you!"

"That's 'cause I've actually smelled 'em once! You're not shoving your socks in Robin's nose!"

With those words, Robin knew he had regained consciousness. He groaned—loudly—and stirred.

"Dude, he's waking up!" Beast Boy said gleefully. Robin sat up in time to see the green-furred boy cram his feet back into his boots. As she stood slowly, Cyborg and Beast Boy shared a high-five.

"Where are Raven and Starfire?" Robin asked.

"Right here." They looked to see Raven walking toward them, carrying Starfire in her arms.

"Is she all right?" Robin asked. Raven nodded, stopping when she was near.

"Just knocked out." She looked away from Starfire, noticing the cut on Robin's shoulder. "Here." She shifted Starfire about until one hand was free, reaching out and healing the cut.

"Thanks," he said.

"Shouldn't we wake Star up?" Beast Boy asked nervously. "I mean, that 'Freddy' demon's still after her!"

"Starfire's safe," Raven replied, her voice growing soft. "Kali's not going to attack her anymore. She wants to fight me." She went quiet, walking toward a service ladder just down the tunnel. Unsure of how to respond, the boys followed her. Her eyes shone white, and the heavy iron manhole cover lifted away from the top of the ladder's path. She rose off the ground, disappearing into the bright light of the day. The boys climbed the ladder one by one, emerging onto an empty street.

"So Starfire's safe now?" Cyborg asked. "And you can handle someone like Kali, right?"

"Starfire still has to deal with Blackfire," Raven murmured. "Kali…I'm not sure how to fight her."

"Why not?" Beast Boy slapped his hands over his mouth, fearing an angry reaction. Raven smiled slightly, sadly.

"Because she doesn't want to fight," she answered. "She wants to lose." She shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. "I'll take Starfire back to the tower. She needs to…we both need to rest." She started to turn away.

"Raven." She looked at Robin, waiting for him to speak again. After a moment, he said, "Be careful. We don't want you two to get hurt." He smiled, and Raven smiled as well.

"Thanks," she murmured. She lifted from the ground and flew toward Titan's Tower, Starfire in her arms. Robin watched them go and turned to Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Let's go home," he said.

----------

Mount Everest was freed of the storms.

—_to be continued—_


	9. Star Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 4

Star-Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

It had been a moment where the realization of her own stupidity made Chaos want to scream an obscenity and slap herself in the forehead. Somehow, she managed to avoid doing so and instead shot into the air, black-feathered wings manifesting. Once she was in the air and flying as fast as she could, however, she started in on herself.

"She was in the city the whole time!" she snarled. "I could have found her a week ago before any of this happened! Dammit all to hell and back!" Her search had been focused on one demon in particular: Kali. Touched by Starfire and Raven, and torn by long standing guilt, Chaos swore to find Kali and make amends for what had happened nearly three hundred years ago.

----------

It was mostly by accident that the two demons met four hundred years ago. Chaos, frustrated by the encroaching mechanization in the western world, had traveled to Japan. She enjoyed being in the country for approximately two days before being attacked.

Every so often, lesser demons would challenge Chaos in fights, often ambushing her in large groups in hopes of increasing their chances at victory. These challenges were typically undertakings to find glory. Chaos had been nicknamed "Hell's Heir" for being Lucifer's daughter, and the demons believed that they could take the title if they killed her. While they could never come close to killing her, a large enough group could do considerable damage.

In Japan, it was a group of fifty that ambushed her while she slept on the slopes of Mount Fuji. Though they tore gouges with claws, cut gashes with blades, and broke bones with blows, forty-nine of the demons died at Chaos's hands.

Covered with the blood of her enemies and herself, Chaos looked at the last demon. A gray-haired woman looked back at her, red eyes wide with horror. Chaos blinked, sending bloody black tears streaming from her eyes. She pressed a hand over the offending cut on her forehead, willing it to heal.

"If you want to live, you will stand down," she murmured. She lowered her hand, staring wearily at the woman. The woman stared back, trembling from head to foot.

"I—I don't want to fight you," she said. She turned and tried to run, but Chaos appeared in front of her and grabbed the front of her dark crimson kimono.

"Then why are you here?" When she did not receive an answer, Chaos lifted the woman off the ground as easily as a kitten. "Tell me."

"They wanted me to kill you when you were asleep!" the woman gasped, grabbing at Chaos's hand. When Chaos lifted her even further from the ground, she gave a soft cry.

"How? You can't sneak up on me when I'm sleeping."

"I can—enter your mind! Your dreams! They wanted me to kill you in your dreams!" Chaos stabbed her sword into the ground and wiped the blood from her hand, reaching up to take the woman's chin. She kissed the woman and stared into her wide eyes. After a moment, she broke the kiss and set the woman on her feet.

"Kali." The woman jerked at the sound of her name, and grew confused at Chaos's smile. "It would have been just as easy to read your mind without the kiss, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it." She let go of the kimono and turned, glancing back over her shoulder at Kali. "Come on."

"What?" Kali asked.

"You're coming with me," Chaos said.

"Why would I do that?" She gasped and put her hands over her mouth, fully expecting a painful reprimand to her defiant words. Chaos saw the terror in her eyes, the way she made herself smaller, and frowned.

"I wouldn't treat you like a dog." Kali fixed her with a hard glare, sneering slightly.

"You're probably worse than they were." Chaos chuckled at the remark and offered Kali her hand.

"You'd be surprised at how good I can be," Chaos murmured. She smiled, and Kali felt its warmth. She took Chaos's hand tentatively, and they started down the mountainside together.

----------

For seventy-six years, things went extraordinarily well. Kali was an adept student, and eager to learn what secrets lay hidden in her demon blood. Pleased with the progress Kali made, Chaos crafted her a broadsword, calling her an exceptional warrior. It was little surprise that they quickly became lovers.

At the end of those years, however, Kali learned the one failing of love: it can cause the greatest pain a heart can know.

She noticed that Chaos was not sleeping, even after days of being awake. What sleep she did have was sporadic, and always interrupted by something Kali knew all too well: nightmares. It went on for weeks on end.

"What's wrong?" Kali asked one day. Chaos had just woken from a fitful nap, and refused to meet Kali's eyes.

"Nothing," she said, her voice breaking. She put a hand—a shaking hand—over her eyes, taking uneven breaths.

"Liar," Kali murmured. They were staying at a small inn on Corsica, and Kali stood at the room's window. She turned away from it and walked to the bed Chaos sat in, sitting down next to her. "Tell me what's wrong. Please?"

"It's nothing." The hardness in Chaos's voice made Kali flinch—something she hadn't done in years. Silence prevailed for a long while.

"If your dreams are the problem, I could—"

"NO!" Kali managed to keep from gasping when Chaos grabbed her shoulders, but only just. The wild-eyed look on Chaos's face was familiar, but completely alien on her. She was terrified. "Please—no! Don't go into my dreams!"

"But—" Kali stopped when Chaos put a hand on her cheek.

"Please," Chaos said. "It'll pass. Just—stay out of my dreams." So desperate was her plea that Kali nodded immediately. She had no intention of doing as she said.

That night, she returned from stealing food to find Chaos again curled on the bed, restlessly sleeping. Kali put the food on the floor and went to the bed, kneeling down and reaching out to lay her fingers on Chaos's forehead. Sweat was beaded on her brow, and the lines beneath her closed eyes were worse than they had been in the morning.

"Sorry," Kali whispered. "I'm a bit of a liar, too." She closed her eyes, slipping easily into Chaos's dreams.

It was red. There were no buildings, open plains, or even a sky. Bodies lay everywhere, the blood from their mutilated corpses coloring the world. Kali swallowed hard, looking around for Chaos.

"Kali?" She turned about, finding Chaos standing a few feet away. Her sword was drawn, and she was dripping with gore. "No! No! Kali, get away!"

"Chaos, let me help you," Kali said gently.

"Get _away_ from me!" Chaos howled. She took a step towards Kali, her body menacing but her eyes wretched. "I'll kill you!" She took another step forward, and Kali took two steps back. "Dammit, Kali! Run! _Get away!_" Another step was taken, but Kali did not step away. She had tried to let her magic fade—to escape—but she was held in place. The madness that enslaved Chaos's mind had trapped her.

"Chaos, don't," Kali whispered. "_Please._" The sword fell faster than sight.

Two screams filled the air: one of pain, and one of devastation. Chaos's eyes snapped open, her scream strangled as she gasped for breath. She felt twitching fingers on her forehead and jerked away from them, eyes falling on Kali. Twin slashes that ran from her shoulders to the hips opposite them essentially cut her into four pieces.

What limited healing ability her body could produce was overwhelmed almost instantly, only able to keep her from literally falling apart. Her blood was splashed over everything in the room. Chaos stared as Kali went limp, and her eyes grew dull. She was dead.

Chaos slowly slid off the bed, gathering Kali's body into her arms. She bowed her head and closed her eyes, trying to think. By the time the other patrons of the inn broke down the door, they were gone.

----------

It was the first and only time Chaos begged. She begged her father to resurrect Kali, pleading as tears ran down her face. Lucifer complied, confused only when Chaos returned a few days later alone. She explained that she did not trust herself to be with Kali, and did not want the death of the woman she loved on her hands again.

But time had passed, and things had changed. As she sped toward Black City, Chaos's mind was clear. Sixteen years ago, her dreams had been stopped, her mind healed through what she sarcastically referred to as divine intervention.

It was something she would never forget, and a favor she felt she could never repay. And it was among the many kind things that Raven had done.

—_to be continued—_


	10. Star Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 5

Star-Crossed Betrayal: Chapter 5

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

It was not particularly difficult for Kali to find Blackfire. She did have to find her by scent for the most part, but the alien's scent was easily recognizable among the humans. Toward the end of the hunt, it was simply a matter of looking at how the crowds on the sidewalks were parting. Either because she was intimidating or because she was lovelier than most people would have hoped to see walking the city streets, people gave Blackfire plenty of space and did not look her in the eye.

So unwilling they were to glance her way that it almost went unnoticed when she vanished suddenly. Blackfire struggled the moment a hand closed around her neck, but stopped when she was dragged into the air. The claws she felt digging into her skin were a dead giveaway, even without the theatrics of being taken out of the city by rooftop. Her trip ended in the mountains just outside the city, and she was unceremoniously let go of before she could get on her feet. Because of that, she landed on her back on the ground, looking up at Kali.

"What the hell was that for?" Blackfire demanded. "You could have just talked to me back in the city!" Kali turned away from her and sat down a few paces away.

"Raven and Starfire are coming here at midnight," she said simply. "You're going to deal with Starfire on your own." Blackfire half expected the strong mountain winds to die at the statement, but they continued to blow. Her hands snapped closed into white-knuckled fists. The muscles that bunched up first were the ones on her back, hunching her over slightly. A tic started near her eyes as energy gathered in them.

"_What?_" The angry snarl did not faze Kali in the slightest. Her eyes were fixed on a small pile of pebbles a few inches in front of her toes. She leaned backward, barely dodging the star bolt Blackfire hurled her way.

"Here's a new deal," Kali murmured. "You learn to fight your own fights. I keep the money you paid me." She paused, turning to glare at Blackfire with haunted, rage-filled eyes. "You didn't tell me where Chaos was. You're lucky I don't kill you and everyone else in the city. Now sit down and shut up."

Blackfire, for once, did as she was told. She strode to a large boulder a few yards away and sat atop it, putting her fists in her lap. It was six hours to midnight. She'd use that time to let her own fury grow.

----------

Starfire woke to familiar, comforting darkness. She recognized the texture of the sheets on Raven's bed under her fingertips. A scent wafted from the pillows under her head. Years ago, she had gone to a silver moon without a planet a few parsecs from Tamaran. The air on the moon had been sweet and crisp, and the scent from Raven's pillows was exactly the same.

For many minutes, Starfire did not move. Her mind was blissfully calm, as she had thought of nothing but Raven since waking. She did not think of the past few days, instead content to lie still and silent. Warmth and softness nearly drew her drowsy consciousness back into sleep, but the fact that Raven was not near made Starfire get out of the bed. Rather sleepily, she made her way down to Ops.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were engaged in a ferocious video game duel when she floated into the massive chamber, yawning and rubbing one eye. Robin sat on the couch a good distance from the duo, as they were prone to leaping to their feet suddenly and doing victory dances when winning combos were landed. He was about to laugh at Beast Boy's high-bouncing kangaroo dance when he heard the hiss of the door.

"Hey, Star!" he called after seeing her. He smiled and waved at her, standing up to face her. Halfway up to the ceiling, Beast Boy heard Robin speak. So shocked and overjoyed to see Starfire up and about, he forgot he was so high up. He hit the ground with a resounding thud, but recovered and turned to a small green kitten. With loud squealing meows, he sprang over the couch and into Starfire's arms. Cyborg and Robin strode over to her, Cyborg's grin massive and Robin's smile honest.

"Good to see you up, Star!" Cyborg laughed, clapping the red-haired young woman on the shoulder. Starfire smiled and laughed, scratching Beast Boy behind the ears. He indulged himself a moment, purring, before hopping from her arms and turning back to his usual humanoid form.

"We totally thought that the freaky demon hurt you again!" he said. "And we were gonna wail on her if we saw her—like this!" He began to throw punches and kick at the air, adding his special brand of cheesy sound effects. In the middle of a dramatic finishing pose, he noticed that the smile had fallen from Starfire's face. He stopped posing and lowered his gaze slightly, worrying his upper lip with his fang. "Sorry. Um, we're glad you're OK."

"I am glad to be unharmed," Starfire murmured. She glanced around the room, a small cold sphere in her chest growing slightly when she did not see Raven anywhere. "Please, where is Raven?" Abruptly, the coldness doubled in size. "Has…has something happened to her?"

"She's fine," Robin said quickly, reassuringly. "She's on the roof right now. She's been up there since we got back a few hours ago."

"But why is she there and not with us?" Starfire asked.

"My guess is that she's meditating. She's probably getting ready for—" He stopped in mid sentence, looking away.

"For what?"

"She said…she's going to fight Kali." The cold sphere in Starfire's chest swelled and exploded, sending a cold wash running under her skin. She turned and flew from the room. Robin watched her go, but did not linger.

----------

Raven sat on the roof's edge, watching as the sun vanished below the horizon. From behind her, she heard the stairwell door open. A moment later, shaking arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind. Her cloak fluttered from the rush of air that came when Starfire dropped to her knees. Faintly, Raven could hear Starfire's tears as they fell onto her shoulder. She reached up with one hand, touching Starfire's arm gently.

"I do not wish for you to fight her," Starfire whispered. "I do not wish for you to be injured. Please, dearest Raven, _please_." Raven turned and put her arms around Starfire to complete the embrace. Starfire held her tight, quietly crying and trembling.

"It's all right," Raven said. She rubbed Starfire's back slowly, the way she always did. Starfire let out a soft sob at the familiar and comforting feeling of Raven's fingers on her skin, wishing and wishing that it would not end. She held Raven against her, desperate to keep them exactly where they were. After some time, Raven reached up and wiped away Starfire's tears.

"It's all right," Raven said again. "Don't worry. I know what to do."

"What?" Starfire asked. Raven gave her a small, secretive smile.

"Let me worry about Kali," she said. "I want you to think about what you're going to do about Blackfire." Starfire's eyebrows went up. She had not forgotten that her sister was the cause of all the pain she had suffered, but she had not wanted to think of that fact. With a sigh, she turned her gaze away and sniffed once.

"I will fight her," she said, her voice strong. She looked at Raven, and her voice grew soft when she spoke again. "Please, Raven, promise to me that you will not be hurt." In absolute seriousness, she lifted the pinky finger of her right hand and held it out to Raven. It took no thought for Raven to reciprocate the gesture, linking their fingers together. She shook, sealing the vow with another smile.

"It's going to be a full moon tonight," she murmured. "We can watch it rise." Starfire nodded and settled herself next to Raven. With her arm over Raven's shoulders and Raven's arm around her waist, they sat and waited. They watched as stars appeared and the moon rose—as the light gently took in the darkness. They sat and watched, holding each other close.

----------

The moon hung high in the black sky above—in exactly the place it always was at midnight. Kali closed her eyes, drawing in upon herself even further. Faintly, she could sense the two heroines' approach. She heard Blackfire stand from her boulder suddenly and knew that they were in sight. A soft crunch of gravel marked their landing on the ground. Kali stood up and opened her eyes, finding Starfire and Raven standing before her.

Six hours was long enough for Blackfire. She did not fire off a snippy comment or witty insult; she charged at Starfire with her fists glowing. Starfire leapt into the air and Blackfire raced after her, flinging star bolts with every ounce of strength in her body. Kali watched them for a moment and turned to look at Raven.

Again, there were no words. Kali drew her sword, staring at the reflection of the moon in the silver blade. When her hand started to shake, she gripped the sword tighter in an attempt to make it stop. The shaking only increased, and the hurt she felt in her chest pummeled at her ironclad heart. The fissures in her guard—ones that had appeared only hours earlier—grew, and finally broke it completely. She rushed at Raven with a howl, aiming a thrust at the young woman's heart.

Raven dodged to the right, and ducked quickly when Kali stopped, whirled, and swung the sword at her head. A simple thought summoned her sword, and she thrust at Kali's shoulder. The demon woman did not dodge, only jerking away when the blade tip pierced her skin. Her foot came up from the ground and slammed into Raven's stomach. The blow lifted Raven off her feet and pushed her back through the air. Before she landed again, Kali rushed again.

Far above, dark violet and bright green light collided and burst into a brilliant explosion. Flurries of star bolts drowned out the light of the stars above. Punches struck chins and chests, and kicks hit knees and ankles. Every blow traded could have easily smashed through steel, but would only result in painful bruises on bones for the two aliens.

Slowly but surely, Starfire gained the upper hand. Her strikes found their targets and she dodged away from most of Blackfire's attacks. She was focused where Blackfire was erratic, able to summon more strength and more energy. By the time the next pair of star bolts flew from Blackfire's hands, the twin blasts from Starfire were three-quarters of the way there. A new explosion blossomed, close enough to Blackfire to make her lift her arms to protect her face.

Starfire flew through the fireball with her fists forward, crashing into Blackfire. The older woman bent slightly from the twin punches to her stomach, unable to react when star bolts flowed from Starfire's hands. Flying unwillingly backwards, Blackfire's anger swelled as her subconscious finally told her the truth.

It should have been obvious to her when she tried to take over Tamaran. Although her powers had been nearly tripled by the crystal she had worn, Starfire had beaten her. Blackfire had only faced opponents she knew were weaker than herself for years. She took far more pleasure in lording over her opponent than in victory alone, and she paid for her arrogance. Her strength and her skills had diminished.

Starfire was stronger and faster than Blackfire had been in her prime, and was fighting with everything she had. There was no way for Blackfire to win, and she understood that with the next blow. Starfire caught up to her and lifted her fists high over her head, energy surrounding her hands. She brought her fists down, hitting Blackfire in the middle of the back and sending her flying at the ground.

The ground shattered when Blackfire hit it, dirt and dust erupting in a blinding cloud. Starfire swooped down into the cloud and landed, taking a few slow steps. Her sister did not attack, and, when the cloud settled, Starfire found her unconscious in the rubble. Starfire allowed herself a small smile at her victory, but the sound of magic against metal made her turn about quickly.

In terms of knowing a style, Raven and Kali were equal. They had been taught the same attack patterns, and the same methods of defense. In either offense or defense, they were mirrors. They knew what was coming by the smallest change in the other's stance or how the sword was held. Were the knowledge of the technique the only measurement of the fight, they would have fought forever in a stalemate.

While Kali was more experienced in duels to the death and completely willing to kill, there were far more factors stacked in Raven's favor. Raven was simply more powerful. Her magic made her faster and stronger, and she was absolutely calm. Desperation and rage and hurt did not rip at every part of her as they did to Kali.

What guaranteed Raven's victory was none of this. The battle would be won because Kali wanted to lose. She did not dodge, instead letting the blade cut into her. Only when she was wounded did she move away and start her assault anew. She quickly grew covered in wounds, her blood leaving footprints in the dirt after every step. Her breath came raggedly, and her strikes came slower. Raven saw her weariness, felt her pain, heard the soft sobs that wrenched free of the demon woman's throat.

When Kali rushed headlong at her once more, Raven kicked her hard in the chest. Kali hit the ground and was only able to rise back up to her knees. She coughed, drops of blood shaking free from her wounds at the jerking of her body. In the back of her mind, Raven noted that the blood dripping onto the ground was red and remembered that black blood was unique to one demon. With that memory, she let her sword fade away.

"Better finish things, Raven," Kali muttered.

"Things are finished," Raven replied.

"I'm still alive. Kill me, or I'll come back for Starfire's head." The threat once could have angered Raven—driven her to action. Now, as Kali knelt weeping and nearly begging, Raven felt nothing but pity.

"I'm not going to kill you," she said. Kali's eyes went wide in shock, then narrow as tears burned them. She bowed her head, hands going limp. After a moment, she lifted her sword from the ground by its blade. Raven saw her turn the sword around and position it over her own heart with shaking hands. "Kali, wait! Don't!" Kali looked up with a sad smile and pulled the sword at herself.

Her fingers slid along the blade as if it was wet ice, and the edge did not cut her hands. She unexpectedly thumped her chest as her hands slipped from the sword. Kali stared at the sword as it hovered in the air, untouched.

"Kali." She was unable to turn around completely, as the owner of the sweetly familiar voice knelt down and wrapped her in a warm embrace before she could move too much. "I'm sorry." Kali touched one of the arms around her and found it was real. "I'm sorry all of this happened." She felt the gentle kiss laid on her forehead, and tears came unbidden from her eyes.

Chaos paused, hearing the faintest sound of rocks shifting. She looked up and found Blackfire struggling to her feet with energy dancing in her hands. Raven and Starfire turned at Blackfire's enraged scream, reflexively drawing back at the sight of the mass of the energy in her hands. Before her scream had ended, Chaos stood before her.

The next scream from Blackfire came when Chaos grabbed each hand and crushed every bone in them. She fell to her knees, Chaos still holding tight to her ruined hands. Chaos regarded her with narrow eyes, frowning down at her.

"First thing," she murmured. She tightened her grip on Blackfire's hands. "You do not attack someone while their back is turned. Second thing—" She ground the broken bones together. "—You do not try to attack someone so close to my little blackbird. And the last thing—" She lifted Blackfire off the ground and stared her in the eye, six red eyes flashing. "—_You never try to attack the woman I love._"

Black flames danced into the world through Blackfire's skin. She screamed for only a moment before she was consumed and turned to ash. Starfire stared as the ash was carried away on the wind, turning to Chaos with wide eyes. Chaos looked back, closing her eyes with the faintest bow of her head.

"Chaos?" Kali stood up and took a shaky step toward Chaos. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. At the sight of Chaos's smile, Kali smiled and went to her. She collapsed against Chaos in weariness and pain and absolute joy, pressing her face into the taller woman's chest. Chaos picked her up and held her close. She began to walk away, but paused and looked at Starfire once again. There was nothing for her to say, and so she did not try. She merely bowed her head once more before turning to Raven.

"Thanks," she murmured softly. "It'll be all right." She smirked slightly. "Here's hoping I don't have to come back in a week. See you around, little blackbird." She walked away, wings manifesting and lifting her and Kali into the air and out of sight. Raven did not watch her go, reaching out and taking Starfire's hand in hers. It was a long time before they went home.

—_to be concluded—_


	11. Star Crossed Betrayal: Epilogue

Star-Crossed Betrayal: Epilogue

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Starfire sat, wishing that her mind would stop working, if only for a moment. She would never forget that instant when she saw Blackfire's eyes just before they vanished in flame. The only thing she saw in her sister's eyes was malice. Seeing that malice aimed solely at her pushed knives into Starfire's chest. The knives were still there days later as she sat on the rocky shore of the island in the middle of the bay. She sighed, drew her legs up to her chest, and laid her forehead against her knees. Soft footsteps grew louder as someone walked up on the dirt and loose pebbles behind her.

"So you and Raven are hooked up now?" Starfire looked up to find Terra standing at her shoulder. She had no idea what the small smile on the earthmover's face meant, and wondered how the girl found out so quickly after being made a Titan.

"BB told me," Terra said, answering the unspoken question. She rocked back and forth on her feet, hands behind her back, and smiled brightly at Starfire. "I think you two are kind of cute together." The relief Starfire felt at the acceptance was washed away quickly by lingering confusion about her sister.

"I thank you, friend Terra," she sighed. Terra frowned at the melancholy monotone and sat down next to Starfire cross-legged. She leaned on her knees, examining the way Starfire stared at the ground. When silence prevailed, she reached out and tentatively put a hand on Starfire's shoulder.

"He told me about the demon thing, too," Terra murmured. "You know, I always miss stuff when I'm training." She shrugged and sighed, taking her hand away and leaning forward on her knees again. "Man, Chaos sounds freaky. Scary freaky, not cool freaky."

"She killed my sister Blackfire." Terra nodded with a small frown.

"Beast Boy told me," she said unnecessarily. "He said that's why Raven's been grumpy—you're always out here. Maybe—I don't really know about you and your sister, but maybe Chaos did what she did for a reason."

"Her reasons do not make sense to me." Terra sighed and reached down, picking up a stone. She tossed it into the air, catching it and throwing it again.

"Maybe there was another reason. She might have done it to protect you and Raven. Chaos might have thought that Blackfire would come back—that she would have done something even worse next time, you know? So, in a weird way, she might have helped you." Terra frowned and sent the rock shooting across the surface of the water with a small burst of her powers. "Sorry. That probably didn't make any sense."

"I understand," Starfire said quietly. She picked up a stone of her own and lobbed it into the water, listening to the plunking sound it made as it went under the water. "I just wish I knew why my sister desired revenge so much." She put her chin on her knees, watching the dying ripples from the tossed rock. "I wish I knew what made her change."

"People change a lot," Terra said. She leaned forward slightly, her hair falling in front of the right half of her face. "Even when you kind of hope they'd stay just the way they are, they're a different person every time you see them." She tucked her hair back behind her ear and stood up, patting any loose dirt from her shorts. "Let's go back in. No one's happy when you're out moping, Starfire."

Starfire sat and thought a few moments more. There was no changing what had happened, and she did not want to dwell on it any longer. She stood up, finding her familiar and comfortable smile. She and Terra were greeted cheerfully when they returned to the Tower, and Starfire's smile grew. By the time she saw Raven, her high spirits were soaring once more, and she quickly joined the one she loved.

"I got her back in," Terra said to Robin, smiling slyly. "Gonna keep your half of the bargain?" Robin returned the smile with a smirk of his own.

"Beast Boy's really ticklish on his left foot, his stomach, and behind his ears." Terra grinned at the information and strolled off to use it.

—_end—_


	12. The End: Chapter 1

The End: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Raven lay in bed with Starfire's arms loosely wrapped around her. She was neatly tucked under Starfire's chin, and the taller young woman was fast asleep. As wispy breaths tugged gently on her hair, Raven felt her eyelids grow heavy.

The sight of peaceful sleep is a sedative common to all things. It is calming and soothing, and can easily draw the watcher into sleep's warm embrace. The feeling, however—the _feeling_ of peaceful sleep is unlike any other. Raven considered herself blessed to be able to sense what Starfire felt as she slept. Her warmth, her tranquility, the unconscious happiness that brought about her small smile—all these things held Raven as closely as Starfire did physically.

In her own warm drowsiness, Raven could forget so many things. It had been months since Terra's betrayal and Slade's destruction. It had been longer since Blackfire's death and Kali's attacks. It had been longer still since Chaos had come back into her life and unlocked her powers.

But held so closely by the one she loved—the one who loved her—Raven could forget all of those pains. She could forget all her worries and her fears and her past. Letting herself slip into sleep, Raven forgot that the coming day was her birthday.

----------

She woke because she was alone. Starfire was gone, the portion of the blanket she claimed the night before tucked gently around her. Raven sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking around her room. The sun was already high above, light washing into her room. She stood from the bed and held out one hand. With Starfire's clothing now taking up residence in her closet, it took a fraction more concentration to make one of her cloaks fly to her hand instead of one of Starfire's tops or skirts.

The door hissed open with another small thought. She walked through the door, fastening her cloak at her neck. It was amazingly quiet. She did not hear any arguing over what would be made for breakfast or any sound from the TV. Even as she drew nearer to Ops, silence made her footsteps echo in the hallways. She tapped a button on the control panel next to the door to Ops, jerking back at the darkness she found.

The first step into the room came without incident, as did the second and third. Once she was standing beyond the doorway, however, the door hissed shut and plunged her into the dark. Her heart began to beat a hair faster, and near jumped from her chest when the lights flashed on. She threw up one arm over her eyes, holding out a hand and calling up shadows around it.

"SURPRISE!" Raven opened her eyes, and her arms fell limply to her sides at the sight before her. Streamers and balloons hung on the walls, and confetti was tossed into the air in fistfuls. Beast Boy blew a noisemaker, and he and Starfire both wore colorful pointed hats. Cyborg carried a multi-layered cake with candles, and Robin smiled cheerfully. Tables were set up behind them, loaded with food. A banner with "Happy Birthday Raven!" scrawled upon it was strung from the ceiling.

"Oh, happiest day of birth, dearest Raven!" Starfire laughed. She flew forward and wrapped Raven in a tight hug.

"Happy birthday, Raven!" Beast Boy cheered. "C'mon, light the candles and blow 'em out so we can get some cake!"

"It's my special triple-strike!" Cyborg said proudly, holding the cake up. "Three layers, three flavors of cake mix, three types of frosting! Boo-yah!" Beast Boy blew his noisemaker again, grinning at Raven when he ran out of breath. Starfire paused, noticing that Raven was not returning her hug in the least, and stepped away slightly. Raven was standing completely still, wide eyes fixed on the banner.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Isn't it your birthday?" Robin asked.

"BB said it was," Cyborg said. He, Robin, and Starfire turned to glare at the green-furred young man. Beast Boy looked back at them and gave them a weak grin, blowing on the noisemaker again.

"It's her birthday!" he said in protest. "Seriously! OK, I know she never said when her birthday was, but I did some research! I dug in those files in the dusty locked filing cabinet in the corner of the subbasement, and I found out that today is Raven's birthday!" He turned to face Raven with a much stronger grin. "So happy birthday!"

"Why are you doing this?"

"It is your day of birth!" Starfire replied. "It is a time of celebration!"

"No!" Raven hissed, stepping back toward the door. She closed her eyes so she would not have to see the confusion and hurt on the faces of her friends. "Listen, thanks for doing all of this, but I…don't want a party." She turned away, and only Starfire heard her murmur, "I don't want to celebrate this." She slapped at the control panel, walking quickly out the door. Starfire went after her, and the door closed behind her.

"At least she didn't blow up the cake," Beast Boy said quietly.

----------

"Dearest Raven?" No matter how desperately she wanted to run, Starfire's soft call of her name stopped Raven instantly. She jerked when Starfire's hand touched her shoulder, wishing that she had not done so. Undeterred, Starfire put both hands on Raven's shoulders and gently tightened her grip. "Please, what is the matter?"

"I don't like parties," Raven said weakly.

"You said that you did not wish to celebrate 'this,'" Starfire replied. "Do you not wish to celebrate the day of your birth?"

"Starfire," Raven whispered. "I've told you about—everything. You _know_ there's nothing for me to celebrate."

"But that is in the past," Starfire protested. "Why can you not celebrate the good things in the present?" She smiled when Raven reached up and touched one of her hands.

"I can't be happy today." She pulled free from Starfire's grasp and walked away.

----------

There was absolutely nothing odd about the call the Teen Titans received late that day. It was plainly generic: there was a break in at one of the many local factories. The factory was itself plain. There was no toxic waste for a creature like Plasmus to feed off of. There were no large power conduits for Overload to suck energy from. There was nothing that would lure in any of the usual suspects.

"There's nothing here," Robin murmured. The Titans stood in the middle of the main factory floor, having already searched the building.

"Can we go home now?" Raven asked. The four other heroes looked at her in surprise. She stood slightly apart from all of them, eyes constantly darting from place to place. Starfire pushed her hurt feelings aside and started toward Raven, hoping to comfort her.

"Oh, but why would you want to go home?" The deep dark voice echoed out from shadows high above and made the Titans whirl to look. "You really should go out and celebrate a day like this." He stepped from the shadows and leaned on the railing of the catwalk, looking down at them with amusement in his blue eye.

"Slade." The name came out of Robin's mouth a whisper of disbelief.

"Terra _killed_ you!" Beast Boy snarled. Slade made no comment, his eye locked with Raven's. Her breath caught somewhere behind her tongue, and her hands began to shake. She wanted to turn and run as fast and as far as she could.

"If you can't think of anything to do for your birthday," Slade murmured, "perhaps I can be of some assistance." On his forehead, a fiery red symbol appeared: a broken S. Fire gathered in his hands, its light dancing across his mask. Raven could see the horrible smile in his eye just before he threw the flames.

"Titans, GO!" They leapt away to avoid the fire, but it swerved in the air to crash into Robin and Cyborg. As they hit opposite walls, Beast Boy changed into a pterodactyl and flew at Slade. The villain sprang from the catwalk, flipping over the green dinosaur and hitting him in the back with another fireball. Beast Boy hit the catwalk hard enough to make it crumple like tissue paper before falling limply to the ground far below. Slade landed in a crouch, standing to his daunting height and once again turning his stare on Raven.

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!_" Raven clapped her hands together, and clawed hands of shadow caught Slade in their grasp. She ground her hands against each other, sensing his ribs snapping though her magic silenced the sound. Her magic did not stop the cold chuckle that rose from his throat, and with a burst of fire, her spell was broken. Slade strode toward her, hands blazing at his sides. Without looking, he dodged the star bolt that had been hurled at him.

"You've gotten predictable while I was away," he said in a disappointed voice. "I'd have thought you would learn some new tricks." Starfire frowned and aimed her next star bolt at his head. His hand flashed up and caught the energy, holding it tight. "Like _I _did." Fire flared around the green energy, absorbing it and growing even brighter. With a shout, Slade threw the fireball too quickly for Starfire to react. An explosion lit the dark corners of the factory for an instant. When it faded, Raven saw Starfire lying unconscious, the ground smoldering all around her.

She had to leave. She had to run. She had to get as far away from the others as she could. _Now_. Before anyone else could be hurt. Hating herself with every inch she put between herself and Starfire, Raven turned and tried to get away. Slade watched her fly up toward the ceiling and raised his hand. Fire erupted from the ground at his feet. It rushed along the floor, up the wall, and shot out to strike Raven in midair. She was thrown onto another system of catwalks and lay there, unmoving.

The sound of snapping metal and an angry roar drew Slade's attention momentarily away from Raven. Cyborg charged at him, swinging a massive piston he had pulled out of the machinery. A moment before impact, Slade began to glow red. The piston made contact with the red aura and melted. It separated into two pieces, one piece falling to the floor with a massive bang. Cyborg looked at the melted end of the piece he held, mouth slightly open.

"No comeback?" Slade asked. "No catch phrase to quip? Too bad." He leapt up and spun, his boot cracking against Cyborg's head. The young man was knocked flat, but Robin quickly took up his place. His bo staff whistled as it went through the air, and Robin was all too ready for the crack Slade's neck made as it broke. The masked man crumpled to the floor.

"I don't know _how_ you came back," the boy wonder snarled, "but I was ready for you this time."

"Really?" Slade's feet put themselves flat on the ground, and he rose up as if pulled by his chest. His head rolled back into place with a pop. "I don't think you are." The next thing Robin knew was that he was lying atop Cyborg, cheek burnt from a flaming punch and head spinning. Slade crouched down and leapt, clearing the catwalk's railing easily and landing next to a stirring Raven.

"Get away!" Raven snapped. She stood quickly and tried to run, but Slade's hand was faster.

"I have a message to deliver." His hand closed on her wrist.

Pain. Incredible, unimaginable, hellish, horrible _pain_. The fire seared through her clothes. It burned into her skin, her flesh, her blood, her bone. She screamed and managed to pull her arm free from his grasp. Panting for breath, she looked at her arm. The cloth around her hand and wrist was gone, the burnt edge of her sleeve faintly smoking. A symbol, glowing the same brilliant red as the mark on Slade's forehead, shone on her wrist.

"It has begun." Raven spun to look at Slade, staring as he rose into the air. His arms came up, and energy crackled like lightning from his body to everything around. The factory trembled, thousands of rivets and bolts snapping simultaneously. Metal warped and buckled. The factory began to collapse.

Raven watched as Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg ran toward the nearest exit. She searched for Starfire, eyes widening in horror at what she found. The alien still lay unconscious, and the ceiling above her had broken. Tons of concrete was held up by buckling machinery, and only for a second more. The metal and the concrete plummeted down toward Starfire. There was no way to stop its fall, and no one would reach her in time.

"_STOP!_" Light washed over the world, and time did as she commanded. Raven stood up shakily, wide eyes staring. The wreckage was stuck in midair, the boys in mid step, and no more sound rang out. Even Slade was frozen, the destructive energy flowing from him stopped in lightning arcs. She shook herself from her staring and dove down to Starfire, pressing a hand to her chest. Color flowed back into her, and she returned to consciousness.

"Dearest Raven?" she asked. Raven pulled her close, and Starfire felt her trembling. "Raven, please, what is going on?"

"You really shouldn't keep your friends in the dark." Raven turned, horrified, to find Slade moving to stand as he always had: arms held behind his back and his gaze amused. He started to walk down through the air, easily pushing aside time-frozen objects that were in his way. "I must admit that I'm impressed, Raven. I had my suspicions of you hiding something about yourself. And then to learn of this exceptional destiny of yours!" He chuckled. "It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?"

Raven threw up her cloak, pulling herself and Starfire down into the shadows. They emerged on the street outside the factory, and Raven immediately started to run. Starfire followed her, catching glances of the time-stuck city around her.

"What did he mean?" she asked. "What destiny does Slade speak of?" Raven made no response save quickening her pace. "Raven!" Raven stopped, and did not jump when Starfire took hold of her hand. "Please, what is happening? What frightens you so much?"

"It's…it's my _birthday_," Raven whispered. "My birthday is supposed to be the start of something—horrible."

"And there's no way to stop it." Slade leapt from a rooftop and landed before them in the center of the street.

"How did you—?" Raven croaked.

"There is no escaping me, dear girl," Slade murmured. "Just like there is no escaping your destiny." Starfire moved to stand between Raven and Slade, hands and eyes aglow.

"You will leave her be," she snarled. "Or I will make you leave." Slade laughed at her and put his arms behind his back, standing completely still.

"You can try." Starfire flew at him before Raven could cry a warning. She struck him with every ounce of strength in her body. There was no other way to fight him, because it was not the safety of the city or the world that depended on her victory. Raven was all that mattered; her safety, her happiness, her _future_ depended on Starfire defeating Slade. He had to be stopped, and Starfire knew it.

The thunderclaps that were her punches were echoed by the whip cracks of Slade's breaking bones. She could not keep track of how many times she struck him, or what she had broken. She soldiered on, pummeling Slade until she thought he would shatter like glass with the next blow. He did not shatter, and he did not fall. He remained on his feet, only bent in strange contortions according to his broken bones.

Starfire paused, doubt festering in her chest. She froze when the popping began. It started from his legs and traveled up his body. He jerked wildly as bones were set back into place. With every healing, pops like cracking knuckles rang out. His spine straightened, and his head twisted back from staring at the world behind his body. Starfire's eyes widened as Slade put his arms behind his back once again.

"My turn." Twin pillars of fire surged from the ground, writhing and twisting in the air. One of the pillars roared over Starfire and turned about as the other rushed at her head on. They crushed Starfire between them, enveloping her in a massive explosion. When the light faded, she lay unconscious in a smoking crater.

"Starfire!" Raven cried. She rushed to the other girl, crouching down to reach for her. Slade's heavy footfalls drew her attention away.

"There is no stopping this," he said. "Skies will burn. Flesh will become stone. The sun will set on your world, and it will _not_ rise again! Time won't wait forever, birthday girl. You _can't_ run away from who you are!" She tried to hold him back with her magic—by hurling cars and pieces of the street at him—but he continued to advance. He came closer and closer, but she could not and would not move. Fear held her in place, but she would not run again—not without Starfire.

Slade's hands shot out and grabbed her upper arms. She howled as the fire burned down into her bone and pulled herself free once more, spinning about and falling to her knees. The pain lingered, but she did not try to smother it away with her hands. She did not want to touch the symbols she knew lay burned on her body.

"The message will be delivered," he said. "If I have to kill your friends to do it, so be it." Rage swelled up at his words, and she summoned her sword. With a shout, she thrust the sword back through her cloak. She felt it stab into him, but did not wait to see if it had any effect. She heaved Starfire onto her back and flew as fast as she could.

Slade pulled the sword from his stomach and tossed it aside, watching it fade away before it touched the ground. He turned his gaze to the small, shrinking speck in the sky and chuckled. It would be all too easy to find them.

—_to be continued—_


	13. The End: Chapter 2

The End: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Multi-colored light spilled onto her face from the stained glass window high above. The window was one of the most beautiful things Starfire had ever seen. There was no real design. No figure had been made, no symbol crafted. Instead, colors were spread in all different shapes and sizes, guided only by the moment of divinity the artisan had achieved.

The beauty of the window was the first thing Starfire saw when she drifted back into consciousness. She then felt a trembling hand on her forehead and another on her chest. Her hearing returned last, and brought to her the sound of Raven quietly crying. She turned her eyes, her body barely able to move, to find the other young woman kneeling next to her, head bowed and tears dripping from her cheeks.

"Raven?" Her voice was soft, but it made Raven's bowed head snap up. "Dearest Raven, please, forgive me. I could not defeat him." She lifted her arm up, holding out a hand toward Raven. Raven took her hand and held it tight, tears shining in her eyes.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for," she murmured. "All of this is my fault." She bowed her head once more, and her tears fell on Starfire's fingers.

"You cannot be blamed for this," Starfire replied. "You did not wish for this to happen."

"But it's happening because of me." Starfire managed to tear her gaze away from the pain on Raven's face and saw the glowing red symbol on her wrist.

"You are injured!" she gasped. She sat up slowly and reached out with her free hand.

"No!" Raven jerked away from her, cloak swinging aside to show the marks on her upper arms. She saw the shock on Starfire's face and hid herself under the cloak, moving further into the shadows. "Please, don't touch them."

"They pain you?" Starfire asked.

"They're evil," Raven said. "I don't want you to touch them." She tried to move even further away, but Starfire took hold of her shoulders and pulled her back into the light.

"What are they?" she asked. Raven did not answer for a time, wishing that the sweetness of Starfire's embrace could banish the lingering ache of the marks on her body. It could not, but it gave her enough strength to speak.

"Parts of a spell," she whispered. "It's supposed to bring something to our world." She closed her burning, tired eyes. "A prophecy was foretold when I was born, and…and I was nearly killed because of it. But I'm still alive. And now the prophecy is coming true."

Before Starfire could answer, the church suddenly shook, time-frozen dust unable to fall from the rafters above. At the fore of the building, above the magically barred doors, fire danced in the windows. Raven tried to stand, but Starfire held her where she was.

"I do not want you to leave," Starfire said.

"I won't let him hurt you again," Raven replied. "I have to do this alone." She began to turn away, but Starfire's soft hands cupped her cheeks. Their eyes met and stayed with each other for a long, quiet moment. Raven would never know whose fear she felt in that moment, seeing tears in Starfire's eyes through the tears in hers.

"Return to me." Starfire's voice was as gentle as her touch, but it was steady and strong. "No matter what happens, return to me."

"But what if I can't?" Raven's whisper was choked with tears. Starfire smiled and wiped away the tears with her thumbs.

"Then I will find you," she said. "That is my promise." The church shook again, harder. Starfire kissed Raven's forehead and hugged her before letting her go. Raven took her hand and held it to her lips, drawing strength from the promise. She let go and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. Her eyes shone with light as well as tears, and she vanished into the shadows.

----------

He was there the moment she emerged from the shadows. He stood with his arms at his sides, and he spared a glance at the church behind her.

"Noble," he murmured. "You realize that she can do nothing but be hurt, and so you come here alone because you know I only want you."

"Who brought you back?" Raven demanded. "Who gave you those powers? Why are you here?"

"Dear girl, you know _exactly_ who did all of that," Slade replied. "As for why, I am here to deliver a message. And I will deliver it, whether you want me to or not." His hand shot out, but Raven moved faster. She rose into the air, flying away from him. When she looked over her shoulder, her eyes widened in shock. Slade was flying close behind her, a red aura surrounding him.

She looked forward, gasping at the wall of flames that appeared before her. There was no way to avoid the fire, and so she dove into it. Shadows enveloped her and carried her through the fire unharmed. She increased her speed, not looking back to see the fire parting for Slade.

Raven flew through alleyways barely large enough for the cats that were frozen scurrying through them. She broke plate glass windows and made the shards hang in the air behind her. She ripped pieces of the street up and threw them backwards without looking. She flew fast enough to make her cheeks sting from the wind.

It was all useless. Slade followed her through the alleyways, the walls of the buildings burning away when the red aura touched them. He flew through the shards, leaving behind blobs of molten glass that fell to the ground. He destroyed the chunks of gravel and concrete with fireballs. He flew faster than she did, drawing closer and closer.

A blast of fire swooped up from under her and carried her far into the sky. When it faded, Slade's foot slammed into her back and knocked her down. She landed hard atop the highest tower in Black City, and Slade landed a few feet away. Raven rose to her feet and turned, starting to run. His hand shot out again.

"You cannot run from what you are!" The fire danced on her skin from his touch, and he ripped her cloak away as she screamed. Pain wrote the new symbols on her back clearly in her mind, and she dropped to her knees. Breath coming in rapid, painful bursts, Raven felt the magic holding the world at a standstill flicker and fade. The sounds of the city far below were drowned out by the heartbeat pounding in her ears. The light of the moon high above was blindingly brilliant.

"Get away from me," Raven hissed. "Stop." Slade chuckled.

"Stop?" he asked. "There is no stopping this, dear girl. You know that. You have known about this for all your life. No matter where you go—no matter who you run to—no matter how much you _squirm_—you cannot escape your destiny."

"Shut up." He laughed at her again, and her teeth ground together at the sound.

"Now, now. It's better to accept your fate. Who knows? Maybe you'll be allowed to live when it's all over." She was on her feet and charging him before he finished speaking. Shadows outlined her body, claws made of darkness extending from her curled fingers.

"I said _shut up!_" As her hand swung at his head, he caught her by the wrist and held it tight. She tried again with her other hand, only to have its wrist captured in an equally tight grip. Fire surged into her before she had a chance to struggle.

The pain started at her feet and traveled up her legs. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as it pooled in her stomach and raced down her arms. Her clothes tore apart, leaving only a ragged top and bottom that revealed the glowing symbols. Red light flooded from her eyes as the pain filled her head. Through the light, she could see the moon move slowly in the sky, changing to the sun. It became the moon again, and then the sun.

The world brightened and darkened as days and nights passed in seconds. Raven clenched her eyes shut, distantly feeling her hair growing and falling against her bare back and shoulders. Slade let her go only when the same mark on his forehead glimmered brightly on hers. She collapsed, eyes still closed. When she opened them again, she struggled back to her feet.

Black City lay in ruins, fire dancing all around. The sky was red, the land black. In the streets below, figures that had once been living beings were trapped in stone, frozen forever in their last moments of torment. The Teen Titans were no exception. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Robin stood as though locked in combat: punches halfway thrown and battles cries captured by stone.

Starfire—Raven's sweet, soft Starfire—was on her knees, head thrown back in the middle of a scream that echoed impossibly in Raven's ears. The sight of two stone tears on her face brought renewed pain to Raven in the form of her heart breaking.

"_No_." Slade, standing behind her, took hold of her arms and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"This is your destiny. You will bring the end of the world." In the distance, she saw four glowing red eyes staring at her, and a cruelly dark laugh rang out.

Raven screamed. Her sight went blank as her scream deafened her. Unable to take any more of the world, she fainted. The vision was broken without her conscious mind to feed from, leaving Slade holding her under the bright moon. The marks faded away, hiding just under her skin.

"Soon," Slade murmured. "Soon." He let go of her, and she fell limply from the top of the tower. "Happy birthday."

----------

Starfire saw Raven begin to fall. It was nothing to catch her, but Starfire nearly fell from the sky at the sight of the young woman in her arms. The fact that the marks that had frightened Raven so terribly were gone gave Starfire some happiness, but her shredded clothes and long hair took that happiness and replaced it with confusion and worry.

"Raven," she said. "Please, Raven, open your eyes. Raven!" Her dark eyes opened slowly, and Starfire smiled in relief. "I have found you, dear one." Raven closed her eyes and pressed her face against Starfire's shoulder. Starfire started toward Titan's Tower, heart aching with every soft sob she heard.

----------

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. It was the same as the day before. Her hair was back to the style it had been in for years, scissors stored away in a drawer and the cut locks in a wastebasket. A new set of clothes completed the image that claimed she was Raven, and nothing more. She turned away, hating what she saw.

There was nothing she wanted to do less than leave her room. She wanted to hide away in the darkest corner she could find and never let the light tempt her again. Despite that, she walked out of her room and headed for Ops. She had promised to return to Starfire, no matter what, and she would not break that promise.

Ops was dark, as it had been that morning. Raven strode inside warily, but did not jump when the door hissed shut and the lights flashed on. Starfire pulled her into a gentle hug. Confetti was tossed into the air, and Beast Boy blew on his noisemaker. Cyborg stood grinning with his cake in his hands. Robin smiled cheerfully. The tables were laden with food, the streamers and balloons hung on the walls, and the banner with her name on it was strung from the ceiling.

"We know you said you didn't want a party," Cyborg said. "But we're havin' one anyway."

"You deserve one," Robin said.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy said. "Even if you don't like parties, we're celebrating, because we're glad you were born!" He blew on his noisemaker and gave her a hopeful smile. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Raven returned Starfire's hug and smiled.

"Don't we need ice cream?" she asked wryly. Beast Boy nodded, his eyes bright and his grin brighter.

"Ice cream, comin' up!" he shouted, running for the freezer.

"Hey, man, none of that soy stuff!" Cyborg snapped. He put down the cake and charged after the green-furred young man. With a chuckle, Robin followed both of them to quell any arguments. Starfire put her fingers under Raven's chin and made her look up. The pain in Raven's eyes lessened when she saw the warm, loving smile on Starfire's face.

"You can be happy," Starfire murmured. "You live for a reason, dearest Raven. I do not know the reason, but that does not keep me from caring for you." She let out a soft, happy laugh. "I cannot ask for more than you, because I love you." At those words, a swell of joy nearly knocked Raven off her feet. She smiled and kissed Starfire, once again able to enjoy the warmth that the taller young woman radiated.

----------

The party went long into the night, stopping only when the sun rose. At the glimmering of morning's first light, the heroes said weary partings and went to their rooms to sleep. Starfire fell asleep easily, a smile still pulling at her lips. In her arms, Raven stayed awake.

She stared at her arms—stared at the dully glowing red symbols carved on them. They no longer burned, but made something inside of her freeze over with ice. With gentle warmth holding her body and hard ice freezing her soul, Raven remained awake, staring at the marks.

—_to be continued—_


	14. The End: Chapter 3

The End: Chapter 3

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

The city was in ruins. Fire rose from the shattered buildings. The magma that made up the streets below gave more light than the crimson sky above. She looked over the edge of the cliff she stood on, down at the molten stone. A broken S—identical to the horrible mark written on her forehead—stared back up at her.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Raven spun about, trying to find where Slade's voice came from. "It's that old paradox—so close, and yet so far." The sound of stones shifting just behind her made her turn again. "The time is drawing near, Raven." The wall of a building fell to the ground and she jumped at the massive crash.

"Stop it!" Raven shouted. "I'm not afraid of you!" She felt his body before she felt his spirit and whirled around one last time. His face was too close, his eye too wide, the mark on his forehead too bright. With a gasp she didn't want to give, Raven jerked backwards.

"Me?" Slade asked with a chuckle. "No, no, dear girl. I'm only the messenger. I'm not the one to be afraid of." He vanished in a flash, and she only had a fraction of a second to react to the fireballs that rushed at her. In the crackling roar of the flames, she heard a voice snarling.

_You cannot run from what you are!_

"I am not _running_!" Shadows swelled and pushed the flames away. They danced in a perfect circle, and Raven stood in the center of that circle. "I won't let this happen! It's my destiny—I'll change it!"

"You can do nothing," Slade's voice said. "You were born for one purpose—you will bring an end to the mortal world on Earth." The images of ruination flickered before her eyes. Fire consuming everything—her friends trapped in stone—Starfire frozen in the midst of a cry. Raven did not know if the cry was of pain or rage or sadness, and she never wanted to learn.

Darkness much deeper than she could ever conjure swirled out from under her feet and blanketed the world. So pure and endless was the darkness that it was like a mirror, reflecting the horror on her face. As she looked into the darkness, four glowing red eyes appeared.

_The portal must be opened!_

She made her eyes open.

----------

Her heart hammered against her ribs, and she fought for every gasp of breath. She felt a strange touch on her forehead—like a feather ghosting across her skin—and knew the mark had appeared. As her hand pressed down over the mark, her body began to tremble. A sob threatened to emerge, so she swallowed hard to stop it.

Raven tore her hand away from her face in a furious gesture, and a book flew out from under her bed. She had not touched the book since hiding it a year ago. It had been ten years since she had been given the book, and she had never opened it. Until that moment, there had been no reason to open the book of Azarath.

The book was a relic, steeped in powerful holy magic. She knew some of the spells and the history of Azarath that the book contained, but had not learned these things by reading the pages. Chaos had taught her, just as she had taught her everything else. Because Chaos had done so, Raven had been very confused to receive the book as a present on her seventh birthday. The only explanation the demon woman offered was that if Raven ever needed to know about Azarath, she could turn to the book.

Raven knew that the truth about the mark lay hidden within the book's pages. What fear she still held about her destiny could not keep her from frantically flipping through the book. She had to know if that fear could be dispelled—if it was some sick plot that had nothing to do with the fate she had supposedly been born to. So fervent was her search that she nearly passed over the page she needed to see.

Blood red ink had been appropriately used to scribe the broken S. She read every word under the symbol carefully. She read the passage four times before closing the book slowly. It was true. Slade was working for the demon she never wanted to know about. She hugged her legs to her chest, closing her eyes as she put her forehead on her knees. Someone knocked at the door to her room.

"Raven?" The call was muffled by the door, but Raven could recognize Starfire's voice no mattered how distorted. "Please, may I come in?" Raven gestured quickly, hiding the gray book under her bed once more. As she stood up, she waved her hand again and the door hissed open. Starfire walked in, hands clasped at her chest and her eyes wide and worried.

"Yes?" Raven asked. Her voice cracked when she spoke, and she would not look at the other young woman. Starfire lowered her eyes, trying to find the words to say. When she could not do so, she walked to Raven and pulled her into a gentle hug.

"What is wrong?" she whispered. "You have not left your room in days. You do not speak with us any more." She took a deep breath, letting it out in a shaky sigh. "Please, Raven, tell me what is happening to you."

"It's nothing. I just—he's trying to scare me with visions."

"Tell me what we can do to stop Slade," Starfire pleaded.

"It's not Slade," Raven murmured. She looked at Starfire's eyes—those bright, innocent, lovely eyes—and felt her fear increase tenfold. The idea that Starfire would be trapped forever in stone ripped at Raven's heart enough, but she had no idea as to how the alien would react to the truth. It was one thing to be threatened with Starfire's leaving her by death. It was something else entirely to face the threat of her leaving by choice.

"Then who?" Such a simple, honest question deserved an answer. After coming so far, after giving and receiving so much love to and from the beautiful young woman who held her close, she could not think of lying to Starfire.

"It's—" The hallways and rooms lit with red as alarm klaxons blared. Robin's voice came crystal clear from the speakers embedded in the walls.

"_It's Slade!_"

----------

Slade took in a rapturous breath as fire swirled around his hand. The rush of power he felt was unending and absolutely sublime. He chuckled as he looked for a new target. There certainly was pleasure to be found in following someone else's orders. Hand nearly blurring out of sight from speed, he started to throw another fireball.

The beam of sonic energy that stopped his hand barely registered in his mind. No pain raced up his nerves, but it was just enough to turn the flame into wisps of smoke. Slade turned slightly, moving his eye across the Teen Titans. He ignored the green lion, ignored the sonic cannon aimed at his head, ignored the boy holding the sword made of two birdarangs, and ignored the girl floating with emerald energy dancing in her palms. His gaze fell on Raven, and there his gaze stayed.

"Hello again," he said conversationally. "If you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of something. I'll play with you in a moment." He leapt up and away, flinging the renewed fireball at the ground under him. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy charged after him, easily tracking him by the small explosions that he created with every jump. Starfire started away as well, but stopped and looked back at Raven.

Her eyes were closed, unwilling to look at the flares of red and yellow in the night. Her hands were white-knuckled fists, shaking terribly. The sight of Raven's fear brought a great swell of pain into Starfire's chest, and so she went back to her. As she hugged her, she could feel her trembling. She kissed Raven gently, pulling away only when Raven's eyes opened. Taking Raven's hands in hers, she smiled.

"It will be all right." With another soft kiss, she flew away.

Slade was easily able to leave the heroes behind, but stopped atop one of the taller buildings. He threw the fire with a single-minded fervor, but none of it struck the Titans. Buildings, condemned because of age and decay, began to burn. Beast Boy flew high as a pterodactyl and jabbed at Slade with the talons on his feet. He managed to knock the man from the ledge he stood on before taking a fireball in the chest.

Bursts of sonic energy tried to strike Slade as he fell. He twisted like a cat, dodging each beam with a hand's width of clearance. Star bolts washed over the ground he was falling towards, but he twisted again to face the building behind him. A sustained rush of fire pushed him out of harm's way, and he landed in a balanced crouch. Before he could stand, however, Robin swung in on a grappling hook's line. The boy wonder's feet caught Slade under the chin and threw him into a wall.

As soon as his hands touched something solid, Slade sent fire erupting from the ground under Cyborg and Starfire. They were thrown away trailing smoke, leaving Robin to face Slade alone. The young man stood his ground even as Slade rose to his feet.

"How did you come back?" Robin snarled. "How did you get those powers?" The sound of Slade's cold chuckle was so ingrained in Robin's mind that it no longer sent ice dancing down his spine.

"What you really mean," Slade murmured, "is _who_ did this. You want to know about _this_, don't you?" He reached up and tapped the glowing mark on his forehead, sparks flying from each tap of his fingers. "I suppose I could tell you, since you seem to be in the dark." His hand fell away from his face, reaching out toward Robin. He started to write the mark in the air, and his fingers left behind trails of red light. "It's known as the mark of Scath, dear boy." He drew a circle around the completed mark, and fire filled it.

Robin had no time to demand Scath's identity. He barely dodged the massive fireball thrown his way, thrown much further than his jump could have carried him by the concussive blast of the explosion behind him. When he got back to his feet, he looked about. The world around him was burning.

----------

Slade leapt from a high building and landed lightly in front of another. The way he stood waiting seemed odd, until the shadows of the stoop split apart. Her eyes glowing bright white, Raven stepped into the light of the fires.

"Leave them out of this," she murmured. Slade laughed at her, blue eye shining in amusement.

"Surely you mean leave _Starfire_ out of this?" he asked sardonically. Raven's hands tightened into fists.

"I mean all of my friends," she snarled. "Leave them out of this."

"Ah, ah, ah, Raven," he said in return. He wagged his finger at her, flames surrounding it. "You can't put all the blame on me. I never brought them into this." He pointed at her, the flames casting bizarre shadows on his mask. "_You_ did."

"What?" He chuckled and shook his head. Her back teeth ground together at the sight of him.

"The instant you let them into your life, you damned them to this," he explained. "Their deaths will be your fault, and no one else's. They will be burned away because of your selfishness."

"You're wrong!" Raven snapped. "I won't let that happen!"

"You are remarkable uninformed about the truth of it all," Slade said. "Just as your friends are uninformed about the truth of your destiny." He leaned forward, eye narrowing. "If you're having trouble telling them the truth, I'll tell them for you."

"Shut _up_!" A burst of magic struck Slade hard across the face, but he did not lose his footing. He turned his head to stare at Raven once more, his eye showing nothing. "Stay away from them!" After a moment, Slade shrugged, somehow managing to make the gesture look eloquent.

"It doesn't really matter if either of us tell them," he said. "They'll know soon enough. The time is drawing near, Raven. The portal will be opened." He stepped back, fire surrounding him. When the fire ceased, Slade was gone.

----------

The mark of Scath burned brightly in the night, but briefly. When Slade disappeared, the fires died down. In the end, a near perfect circle that measured three city blocks in diameter was reduced to ash and half-molten steel girders. The only thing that miraculously remained was an old library.

"It's the original city library," Cyborg said. The Titans stood before the building, staring up at the simply carved piece of stone that read "Library." "But it's been abandoned for years."

"So why'd Slade leave it alone?" Beast Boy asked. "It's a dump." He kicked at the nearest Romanesque pillar. Spider-web cracks rushed up the pillar from the kick, and it broke apart. The sign collapsed without the pillar as a support. The other pillars fell against one another, shattering on impact. The face of the building crumbled away from the vibrations, and Raven recoiled at what was revealed.

"The mark of Scath," Robin snarled. Raven turned to stare at him, and he felt her eyes on his back. "Slade told me what it's called." He started to move aside the rubble in front of the door.

"We shouldn't go in there," Raven said quickly. "It's—Slade probably set a trap."

"He was looking for something," Robin said in return. He grunted as he lifted a large chunk of stone. "This place wouldn't have survived the fire if he hadn't wanted it to. Whatever he wants has to be in there somewhere." His words carried such an air of finality that Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire joined him in moving the rubble and breaking down the moldy doors. They crossed through the doorway, and Raven hesitated a moment before following after them.

Dust rose from every footstep. The beam of light from Cyborg's shoulder lamp was visible in a tightly focused cone. The light would not travel far, choking on the dust. Half-empty and rotted bookcases stood in broken uniform aisles. The walls were bare. No sound but their footsteps was heard. At Robin's commanding glance, Cyborg checked his scanners and sensors.

"Nothin'," he murmured, "except a bunch of old books." Beast Boy opened his mouth to make a comment, and Raven felt the mark on her forehead appear and disappear in two heartbeats. On the wall in front of them, the mark of Scath wrote itself in bright red light. Part of the wall slid upward, and Beast Boy squealed in shock and jumped away. When nothing came rushing out of the newly created hole, he coughed and cleared his throat.

"Um, secret passage." He pointed unnecessarily. "Cool." Robin strode into the dark opening, followed by Cyborg. Beast Boy whimpered and cautiously trailed behind them. Raven stood rigidly, staring at something beyond the passageway. Starfire went to her and took one of her shaking hands. The touch was enough to give strength to Raven's legs, and she slowly followed Starfire down the dark passage and the stairs therein.

When the chamber at the bottom of the stairs came into view, Raven hesitated once more, letting go of Starfire's hand. The taller young woman entered the chamber, looking at the massive statues carved out of the stone walls. Skull-faced creatures wearing long, ragged cloaks stared back. Casting wary glances all around the room, Raven slowly stepped through the chamber's entrance.

Hands of ice caressed her, fingertips tracing the symbols on her skin. Red light began to sweep across the walls, spreading out from where she stood. New marks, so similar to the ones that had begun to glow on her, appeared and lit the room. Above, the empty eyes of the statues filled with light. Ghostly images of the statues pulled out of the stone, hovering silently. The Titans stared at the apparitions, and they began to speak.

_The gem was born of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim. He comes to sire—the end of all things mortal._

Starfire heard Raven's strangled gasp and turned. Her eyes widened at shock when they saw the glowing marks on her body. For an instant, their eyes met. Absolute horror was etched in every centimeter of Raven's face, and the sight of it filled Starfire with fear she had never known. The instant ended, and Raven rushed back up the stairs. Starfire flew after her, leaving the chamber where the ghosts' words echoed pitilessly.

----------

She ran, cloak fluttering out behind her. The ice in her body was spreading faster than she could run, and a cold sweat was running down the back of her neck. Her body was heavy, but her feet light. It was a moment of frantic elegance as she ran panting but never slipping.

"Raven!" Her feet were instantly frozen to the stairs. Raven turned slowly, unsure of what she would see. Starfire put her feet down on a stair a foot away, eyes wide. "Raven, what is happening?" Raven swallowed hard and backed up the stairs, shaking her head.

"I can't be here," she croaked. "I can't. I have to leave. Please, Starfire—_please_." Her eyes began to glow white, and her body faded into shadows. The shadows flew into the low ceiling above, and were gone. Starfire remained staring at the ceiling. She did not know what Raven had been begging for.

—_to be continued—_


	15. The End: Chapter 4

The End: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Her shoulder struck the door in her haste to get into her room. Candles lit themselves, and books were embraced by shadows. The stacks spread out in the room—ones she had made searching for answers—flew to pile haphazardly against the far wall. The book of Azarath rushed out from under her bed and into her hand. Two glass bottles shook and clattered together, lifting off the high shelf of the bookcase they sat on.

As the corks in the bottles squeaked free, she sat down heavily on the floor. The bottles turned over, heavy white dust falling around her in a wide, perfect circle. When the circle was complete, the corks flew back to seal the bottles. The bottles, in turn, went back to sitting on the high shelf. For a moment, she sat clutching the book to her chest.

Raven could easily believe that it had come to this. It was the only option left, as she had run through the gamut of possibilities far faster than she ever could have expected. Though she had been warned time and time again against doing what she was about to do, it was all that was left to her. She knew well enough what could lie ahead for her, but death seemed incredibly reasonable at that moment. Her death would not stop the end of the world, but she wouldn't have to see Starfire's stone tears.

She took a deep breath and crossed her legs, placing the book in her lap. Her fingers spread out over the book's cover, and she thought back to remember the spell.

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos._" The dust around her began to glow, light dancing up at her words. "_Karazon, Rakashaas, Enderer._" The light reached up towards the ceiling. "_Vasarik, Zendrian, Azarath!_" A swirling portal opened in the ceiling above when the light connected. "_Azarath, Azarath!_" She was pulled into the portal, the light and magic fading when she was gone.

----------

Starfire floated slowly back into the chamber. She looked at each of her friends, and they had no need to ask anything of her. Robin turned, placing an explosive charge on the wall behind him. An instant later, the wall was reduced to dust and debris. The Titans went through the newly created doorway, trying to ignore the fragments of the mark of Scath that stared at them from the rubble.

The chamber they entered still echoed with the sound of the explosion. Stone stairs spiraled down into darkness so deep that Cyborg's lamp could not pierce through to the bottom. After a moment, Robin started down the stairs, his footfalls becoming the new sound that echoed in the vast chamber. Cyborg's steps came soon after, as did Beast Boy's. Starfire continued to hover just off the ground, staring into the darkness.

They walked down the stairs, somehow overcoming the dizziness they felt from walking in circles for minutes on end. Down deeper and deeper they went, never speaking, always looking for some sign that they were going in the right direction. Starfire held her hands to her chest, feeling her heartbeat flutter painfully.

As they made their way down the stairs, all Starfire could think of was the myriad of ways she had failed. She had failed to stop Slade. She had failed to protect Raven from his assault. She had failed to be strong in the face of the threat of this horrible darkness. But the most damning failure upon her hands was her failure to keep Raven happy.

Raven, who had saved her life time and time again. Raven, who kept her happy no matter what the cost. Raven, who she loved more than anything she had ever known. She was suffering, and Starfire could do nothing to help her. The thought made Starfire want to hide somewhere and weep. But, as her hands clenched into tight fists, she swore that she would do no such thing. She could not fail again, and so she followed her friends down into the dark.

----------

The light would have been blinding, had it not been laced with gentle blue. The wind was only a strong breeze, pulling at her hair and her cloak. She was flying, but only to move faster. She was being drawn towards the end of the long pathway, just as she wanted to be.

It was close. For an instant, Raven would have sworn that she saw the end of the path. Then, screeching, much like that of angered birds, filled her ears and translucent blue appeared before her eyes. A creature rushed at her, and somewhere in the back of her mind she recognized it as a guardian. She dodged the bird-faced creature and the three others that followed it. Her eyes automatically followed the creatures, looking to see if they would double back to attack again.

The growing flames behind her swallowed up the ghostly creatures. Raven could not hold back the gasp that swept past her lips, turning back to fly faster. The flames licked at her legs, and she flew even faster. Despite her speed, the fire roared past her. It reached up over her head and closed tightly around her.

----------

The sound of a screech echoed up from the bottom of the chamber. The Titans stopped walking, looking over the edge of the stairs. Ghostly blue light was rising up from the darkness, diamonds of red glowing even brighter than the blue.

"Get back!" Robin shouted. The heroes leapt backwards, scythes slicing through the air where their throats had been moments before. Cyborg immediately pointed his arm at the swarming creatures, the barrel of the sonic cannon forming at his mental command. He and Starfire let loose blasts of energy, striking three of the creatures and reducing them to vapor.

To their horror, the vapor reformed and the three creatures rushed at them once again. Cyborg dropped to his stomach while Starfire shot into the air. The creatures flew into the wall behind them, vanishing from sight. Beast Boy changed into a gorilla, grabbing at the creature nearest him with a roar. His hairy hands passed through the vaporous light that made up the creature's body. He looked at his hands, blinking in confusion.

The creature rammed the ape with its shoulder, knocking him over the edge of the stairs. Beast Boy flailed wildly for a moment before becoming a hummingbird, flying back up. Once safely over the stairs again, he turned back to his humanoid form.

"He _hit_ me!" he squealed angrily, jabbing a finger at the offending creature. "I didn't hit _him_!" He paused, putting a hand to his chin in a thoughtful moment. "Not that I didn't try." With a hiss, the creature flew at him again. He screamed and quickly turned into a mouse. The swing of the scythe missed him, but the wind created by the fast movement ruffled his fur. Beast Boy gave a pitiful, terrified squeak.

Robin jabbed at the faces of the creatures that drew near with his staff, but his attacks were just as ineffective. The creatures continued to advance on him, low hisses constantly issuing from their fanged, beaked mouths. Star bolts dissipated the creatures long enough for him to leap over the vapor and regroup with Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"We need to move!" Robin shouted. He looked down the stairs, but a swarm of the creatures rose up out of the stone. Cyborg let out a noise that was a mix of a squeal and a snarl, firing a continuous blast. The stairs shattered and crumbled away. Robin whirled around to find another group of creatures rising up from the stairs behind them. He pushed Cyborg's arm down before he could fire a shot. "I've got a better idea!"

He ran and leapt from the stairs. Starfire dove after him, and Beast Boy, as an eagle, followed suit. Cyborg stood staring after his teammates, jaw hanging slightly open.

"How is _that_ a '_better idea_?'" He looked at all the creatures surrounding him and grimaced. "Aw, _dude_." Shrugging in defeat, he jumped into the darkness. The wind whistled in their ears as they fell deeper and deeper. Robin looked for any sign of another pathway, ignoring the burning in his eyes. In his peripheral vision, he could see blue light sweeping up from the seemingly bottomless pit. He turned his head slightly, something flashing for less than a second in his sight.

It was more than enough for him. He twisted, pulling a grappling hook from his utility belt in a swooping motion. In that same motion, he brought the gadget up, aiming and pulling the trigger quickly. The line shot out in, the metal end of the cable stabbing into stone. He jerked to a halt and pressed the trigger again, engaging the reverse motors. Beast Boy rose after him in a graceful arc, flapping his wings to catch up. Starfire grabbed Cyborg's hands and pulled him back up through the air.

The mark of Scath greeted them when they stepped back onto the stairs. With the metal teeth of the grappling hook buried deep, Robin took hold of the cable and yanked. The panel of stone carrying the mark fell at his feet, and he leapt through the opening it revealed. Beast Boy flew in after him, reverting to his humanoid form once again to run on two legs. Starfire tossed Cyborg into the opening, turning and firing star bolts to, at the very least, deter the creatures that swarmed after them.

They rushed down the narrow passage, Robin in the lead. When they came to three-way fork in the path, he only took a moment to decide which way to go. The heroes pressed on, running through the stone doorway baring the mark of Scath.

"What are we doing?" Beast Boy demanded. Hisses answered him, and he glanced over his shoulder. He blanched under his fur at the sight of the creatures so close behind them. "OK, other than running for our lives, what are we doing?"

"'The gem shall be his portal!'" Robin shouted in return. "That prophecy said that something is coming, and I'm willing to bet that it's Scath! We need to find that gem before Slade does! It's got to be down here somewhere!"

"How're we supposed to find it?" Cyborg asked. He fired a blast behind himself without looking, running that much faster at the sound of the angry screeches he heard moments later.

"Keep following the mark!" They came to another three-way fork, and each of them looked at the symbols carved over the doors. Beast Boy's jaw dropped as his pointer finger came up.

"There's no mark," he squeaked. They turned at the sound of Robin shouting. He was knocked to the ground, his staff managing to hold the creature's scythe just away from his throat. As his arms shook, he spared a glance toward the doors.

"The center!" he gasped. "Go!" He bunched his legs up under the creature and caught it in a tangible moment, kicking it away. He rolled backwards and flipped back onto his feet, running after the others. Not a second after he was a certain distance down the passageway, heavy stone crashed down to block the way behind them. They ran on, but paused when they heard nothing but silence. Cyborg went slowly to the piece of stone, reaching out and touching it lightly.

He rapped at the stone with his knuckles, finding it solid. He checked his scanners, looking back and forth at the panel on his arm and the stone before him. After a moment, he stepped away and gestured to Starfire. She hurled a star bolt at the stone, but it left little more than a smudge. They waited for a moment, listening for any sign of the creatures.

"They cannot get in," Starfire murmured.

"But we can't get out," Cyborg replied.

"DUDES!" They turned at Beast Boy's shout, walking quickly when they saw him frantically waving them over. "You've _gotta_ see this!"

A room, seemingly carved out of the stone of the deep underground, stood before them. A hand rose from the center of the wide room, clawed fingers locked forever cupping something bathed in light. The light flowed from the ceiling, where the crescent moon in the sky was visible through a wide hole. Statues stood out from the walls, and those statues drew Starfire's attention. She rose from the ground and slowly flew toward the nearest statue.

"It looks like—Raven." In her mind, the cloaked statue's blank face gave way to Raven's soft smile and bright eyes. Starfire blinked and found that her hand was reaching out to caress the cheek that was not there. She brought her hand back to her chest, closing her eyes. "Raven."

"The gem must be in here," Robin said. His eyes were focused on the pillar of light in the center of the stone hand. He found his grappling hook once more and fired it, swinging across the empty room to the hand. A quick tug took the cable's teeth out of the ceiling, and he pressed the trigger to bring back the cable. As he clipped the gadget onto his utility belt, he turned and started toward the light.

The only thing he found was dust hanging in the light. He found nothing, even after scanning the area with a trained detective's eye. Robin frowned, crossing his arms and bringing a hand up to his chin.

"It's not here?" he asked himself. He looked at the pillar of light from the place where it hit the hand's palm to where it flowed from the ceiling and still found nothing. He scowled and turned to shout to the others: "It's not here!"

"You must be disappointed." Robin spun about, teeth clenching and eyes narrowing at the sound of the voice. Slade stood atop one of the clawed fingers, perfectly balanced with his arms behind his back. He leapt down into the hand's palm, walking toward Robin through the pillar of light.

"Where's the gem?" Robin snarled. He saw the quick glance Slade cast over the room.

"Not here," Slade said flatly. "But you would know better than I where it is."

"Enough tricks, Slade!"

"Tricks, dear boy?" Slade chuckled and leaned forward, only stopping when his mask was centimeters from Robin's face. "You should know by now that my tricks are not my words." His hands came out from behind his back, flames writhing in his palms. "_These_ are my tricks." Robin lifted his cape quickly. The fireballs Slade threw at him did not burn through, but they managed to shove him from the stone hand. He flipped in mid air, landing in a balanced crouch on the floor below.

"Titans, GO!"

----------

Shadows rent apart the flames. Raven barely spared the vanishing flames a thought. It was not hellfire, as she originally feared. It had been another magic guardian to Azarath. Azarath, whose gate now lay before her. Incredibly bright light scribed the final lock of the gate: constantly changing magic sigils that would only open for those with holy blood in their veins.

She started forward only to met with resistance. The light flared and shoved her back, but she went forward again. She fought against the hard push of the magic, raising her arms to shield her eyes from the light.

"Let—me—IN!" Light flooded from the gem on her forehead and blinded her. Raven closed her eyes tight and abruptly felt that she was standing on solid ground. When she opened her eyes, the usually bright light of the setting sun seemed dull. A great city was spread out around her, white birds flying among the tall buildings. Everything was a muted gold, the sun's light reflecting gently from the walls. Only the streets were a different color, but they were the deep black of a newly laid street that had never been touched. It was so utterly Azarath; complete, eerie perfection.

She swallowed hard, mouth suddenly dry. After a moment of staring at the sky that was tinted gold by the setting sun, Raven looked about. Nothingness was all she saw. There was no sign of life, save the birds high above. The streets were empty, as were the windows she could see into. No sound reached her ears. Unconsciously, her shoulders hunched and her head lowered. She wrapped her arms around herself, biting her lip.

"Like I expected something?" she whispered. A white bird swooped down and landed at her feet. For a moment, the dove and Raven regarded each other silently. The dove cocked its head to the side once before spreading its wings and flying away. Raven ran after the dove, quiet hope growing as the bird glanced back at her.

She followed the dove through the streets, always keeping her eyes on it as it gracefully arced around corners. Abruptly, the dove began to rise. It circled slightly to rise further, and Raven stopped immediately. A cloaked figure with broad wings was carved on the face of the building the dove flew about. High above, more doves sat on the ledge of a balcony. A person wearing a white cloak stood among the doves, looking down. The dove flew up and landed on the person's proffered hand. When the person looked up and the light crept under the cloak's hood, Raven started to rise as well.

"Alena!" The person turned away, as if to leave, and Raven rose faster. "Mother, please, wait!" She landed on the balcony, arms wide and palms out. The person in the white cloak turned, and her face could have been Raven's. Her skin was the color of peaches, and her eyes were smaller, but Raven could see how someone could compare them as mother and daughter. A gem stood out on her forehead, and her eyes and hair were the same color. In Alena's eyes, Raven could see pain, and knew that her mother would be able to see the pain in her eyes.

"Mother, please," Raven said again. She took a small step forward, eyes locked with Alena's. "I've come back."

"My child." So somber was Alena's voice that Raven did not know if her words were laced with happiness or with regret. At that moment, she didn't care.

"You've got to tell me what I can do!" Raven said. "Please, I need your help!" Her hands fell to her sides and tightened to fists, her eyes looking at the ground. "I can't contact Chaos—he keeps sending me visions when I try!" She looked up, eyes wide. "Please, mother, I need help."

"We could not give you a home," Alena murmured. She stroked the dove's feathers gently, never meeting Raven's eyes. "And we could not give you help."

"I don't want to do this!" Raven said fiercely. "It's my destiny—I should be able to change it!" Alena looked into her eyes with those words, and Raven hated the pity she saw.

"No one can escape their destiny," Alena whispered. "You should know this, child."

"That's not what I was taught!" Raven snapped. "I don't believe that! I'll find a way to change my destiny!" Alena shook her head so slightly Raven almost did not see it.

"It is too late for you," she muttered. "Just as it is too late for Earth." Raven's eyes narrowed as she looked at her mother's face. She turned away, and when she spoke again, her voice was hard.

"I always wondered why Chaos took me away from here when I was a baby," she said. "Now I know why. It's not that you sent me away to protect me from the monks. You would have _given_ me to them." She looked over her shoulder and Alena simply looked back at her. Raven's stomach knotted when she sensed the silent confirmation sitting in Alena's mind. She started to walk away, but not before spitting out one last word.

"Coward."

----------

Panting, Robin lifted his head. His eyes widened at the sight of the flaming hand in front of his face, sweat dripping from his brow. Adrenalin flowed into his body and gave him strength enough to roll to the side. He choked when Slade grabbed his cape and pulled. The ground cracked under him when Slade slammed him down on his back once more. The cape fluttered limply out of Slade's fingers.

"You know, I was willing to make this relatively quick," Slade said. He looked around the room, raising a hand. Crackling red light reached out from his fingers toward the other heroes lying on the ground. They were lifted into its embrace, and Robin was no exception. He hovered limply as the light coiled around his torso. The light touched his chest, and he went rigid. His hands curled into fists and his teeth clenched as he fought not to scream from the pain.

Despite the pounding in his ears, Robin could hear his friends. Cyborg and Beast Boy were growling and snarling, gasping when they needed to breathe. Starfire whimpered and let out a soft cry. Slade chuckled at the sounds.

"I _was_ willing," he said. "But since you decided to fight…well, I can't be held accountable for your choices, now can I?" He chuckled again, and pain flared anew in their bodies. "If you don't struggle, I promise that this won't hurt—much."

"And I promise that it _will_!" Slade turned, eye widening at the sight of the stone block flying at him. The block carried him into a wall, and the light flickered out of existence. Pain vanishing the instant the light was gone, the Titans scrambled back to their feet. They looked about, and Starfire was the first to see the source of the voice.

"Raven!" she cried. In the center of the pillar of light, Raven stood with a scowl on her face, her eyes glowing white and the marks on her body glowing red. She waved her hand, and shadows flared up in front of the four on the ground. A moment later, the stone block exploded, and chunks shattered against the shield.

"Ah, Raven," Slade said. He walked out of the cloud of dust, brushing his shoulders clean. "So good to see you."

"Shut up!" She stepped out of the stone hand, slowly descending to stand on the ground. She advanced on Slade, but he did not give ground. "I told you to leave my friends out of this!"

"They came here searching for the gem," he replied. "Though they should have went looking for you if they wanted answers."

"Raven knows where the gem is?" Beast Boy asked in a whisper behind his hand. Robin shook his head, eyes wide.

"She _is_ the gem," he muttered.

"Well done, dear boy," Slade said. "Now, I'd stay and play with you, but I am very busy making sure that everything is in place for my master's arrival. If you'll excuse me." The ground under his feet turned red and he began to sink away.

"You're not excused," Raven snarled. She dropped to one knee, plunging her hand into the ground as Slade's head slipped out of sight. As she stood back up, she lifted her hand, and Slade rose from the ground. His body was enveloped in shadows, his eye wide. Raven lifted into the air, leaning close to Slade just as he had done so many times before. "You tell your _master_ that I won't let it happen. It's _my_ destiny—I won't go without a fight." She twitched one finger, and Slade was shaken like a rag doll. "And you aren't going without being taught a lesson."

Another twitch of her finger sent Slade headfirst into a wall. He was wrenched away from the wall and flew spinning into the ceiling. As he fell from the ceiling, two stone blocks rushed in and crushed him. He was pulled from between the blocks and crashed around the room like a pinball. The loose stones that had been created by the earlier battle shot from the ground. The first stone struck Slade in the forehead, the second in the neck, and the third in the stomach. The remaining stones smashed into him as a single cloud, trapping him against a wall.

When all the stones were piled around him, he looked up. Raven hovered before him, four glowing red eyes on her face. An instant later, her two eyes were shining white. Her arms came up, and a raven made of shadows loomed from her body. It rushed at Slade, and he made no attempt to dodge. The moment the shadows touched him, an explosion enveloped him. The flame and smoke died away, and Slade stood bent and contorted. His bones popped as they reset themselves, and his head turned to look at Raven once more. She scowled at him, eyes narrow.

"I'm not afraid of you," she snarled. He chuckled, eye closing in amusement.

"That may be," he said, "but look who's afraid of you now." She turned, rage dissipating at the sight of her friends. They stood with their eyes wide and staring. The boys' mouths hung open, and Starfire's hands were clasped to her chest. Slade slipped away into the ground in the silence that followed his words, and no one tried to stop him.

"Raven?" Starfire asked. Raven looked away.

----------

They were gathered in Ops, having been transported through shadows back to the Tower. Raven sat on the couch, Starfire next to her. Cyborg and Robin stood before them, and Beast Boy leaned on the back of the couch beside Starfire. The questions were obvious, and thusly did not need to be voiced. Quiet prevailed a few moments more before Raven began to speak.

"The monks of Azarath are terrified of demons," she explained. "They hid the identity of one of the demons they fear the most by using the title 'Scath.' His real name is Trigon." She kept her eyes on her hands, which stayed firmly in her lap. There was no need to look up for her to sense the horror that struck her friends dumb.

"Seriously?" Cyborg asked. "That's who we're fighting?" He put a hand to his head and looked at the floor. "Oh, _man_."

"When I was working in Gotham, I had to help deal with a cult that called Trigon their 'lord and master,'" Robin murmured. "I never thought he was real."

"So, um, what's with the glowing in the dark?" Beast Boy asked.

"Time's running out," Raven replied. "Trigon's coming." She stood up, walking to the window with her arms wrapped around herself. "The marks are a spell. I'm supposed to be the portal that brings Trigon to Earth."

"But why you?" Robin asked. Raven tried to swallow, but her throat tightened painfully.

"Trigon…he's my father." Once again she felt the horrified shock of her friends and closed her eyes from the pain that appeared in her chest. When Starfire hugged her, she opened her eyes.

"What can we do to help you?" Starfire asked gently.

"I—don't know," Raven admitted. "I've been trying to find out, but I haven't found anything."

"Doesn't mean we can't try!" Beast Boy said cheerfully. Raven felt the pain in her chest double, but did not let it show on her face.

"Let's get some rest first," Robin said. "It's been a long day."

----------

Starfire walked into the room first, hearing the door hiss shut behind Raven. She started toward the bed, but paused when arms wrapped around her. Raven's fingers were warm as she caressed Starfire's stomach, and the kiss she pressed against Starfire's shoulder was soft.

"Raven?"

"Let me touch you tonight. Please."

The way Starfire kissed her was answer enough. For that instant in time, Raven felt peace. She let go of her fears and took in Starfire's warmth. She let her pain be soothed by Starfire's touch. For that instant, all that mattered was Starfire. All that mattered was her body, her breath, her scent, and her sweet soft voice. Bright and dark eyes stayed with each other, and everything that needed to be said could be seen in their silent gazes.

Later, as Starfire slipped away into content, exhausted sleep, Raven felt her weariness return. The fear of her destiny returned as well, as did the pain of not knowing what to do, but neither of these feelings held as much power as they had before. Her breathing slowed and her eyes closed, and she pressed herself close to Starfire. Hope fluttered in her chest, and that was enough to draw her into an undisturbed sleep.

—_to be continued—_


	16. The End: Chapter 5

The End: Chapter 5

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

What woke Raven first was the gentle kiss of the day's first sunlight upon her brow. What brought her consciousness fully back to her body was the harsh flash of pain she felt immediately after the sunlight. Her eyes snapped open, and she stared in horror at her hand. It was curled in a gentle fist before her face, and the symbol that had been burned into it glowed bright red.

She wanted to sit up and see if the glowing from her hand was a mere fluke, if the rest of the symbols were alight. She was stopped, however, by the arms Starfire had draped around her. The last thing she wanted to do was wake Starfire from her deep, content sleep, especially because of this. A hard bite on her lip kept her from letting out the sob that swelled up in her throat.

There was no real need for her to see if the marks were visible. The ache that burned in her flesh was enough, and she was only slightly surprised. It had been a full two months since they had last appeared. Every time the team had received a call for help, she had been grateful beyond measure that it was not Slade. It had been a brief respite, but she had always been on edge.

But now that time of halfhearted peace was at an end. The day had finally come.

----------

Those gathered at the table swallowed rather nervously. The entire team was composed of teenagers, and none of them was able to concoct dishes that the rest would enjoy. It was the primary reason they consumed so much fast food. In their own rights, however, the majority of them knew how to cook the dishes they would personally enjoy.

Raven, however, was on the lowest rung of the food-preparation ladder. She certainly knew the basics of what to do; eight years of living with Chaos had taught her that much. Despite that, she was only able to cook the simplest of things. Not only this, she disliked cooking immensely, and her friends were aware of that fact.

Thusly, they were both confused and frightened when she informed them that she was making the notoriously difficult dish of pancakes for their breakfast. Standing at the stove, she gave no sign to her friends that she was having any trouble, but she scowled as she stared at the pancakes. They had become charred, overlarge bubbles forming and popping lazily in the disgusting blend of black char marks and off-white undercooked batter.

In a barely contained fit of rage, Raven jammed the spatula under the nearest pancake and wrenched upwards. The pancake flew over her shoulder and only an instinctive reaction from Robin saved the offending breakfast food from hitting the far wall. He caught it on a plate, but the effort of the catch nearly unseated him. Heaving the unaccountably heavy pancake and plate back up onto the table, he winced and shook his quivering wrist.

"Good throw," he muttered. Raven grimaced, scraping the remaining pancakes from the griddle on the stovetop and slapping them on a large platter.

"Um, how come you're making breakfast?" Beast Boy asked. He squealed in surprise when Raven slammed the platter on the table before him. She glowered not at him, but at the pancakes. For a moment, she wanted to tell them the truth. Her fingers tightened in that moment, but loosened and let go of the platter when the moment faded.

"I felt like trying," she murmured. She looked up with a wry smile. "And I was getting sick of hearing you and Cyborg argue over tofu and bacon." She waved her hand, and small stacks of pancakes piled themselves on plates. The plates settled in front of each of her friends. "Dig in." Everyone picked up their forks and knives, but none of them moved for a few minutes after that. Eventually, Beast Boy tentatively prodded at the stack in front of him with the tip of his knife. The char marks were hard as stone, whereas the undercooked regions had the consistency and elasticity of rubber.

"Can I have a shovel?" He jerked at the sharp jab Cyborg's elbow gave to his shoulder and worried his upper lip with a fang when he saw Raven's dejected expression. The sound of someone eagerly eating broke the uncomfortable moment, and everyone looked to Starfire. She was smiling and chewing, bliss causing her eyes to slide shut and her cheeks to flush.

"Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" she said after swallowing. "I cannot begin to describe the wonders of the tastes I am experiencing!" A few seconds later, her plate was clean. She held it out to Raven with a broad grin. "May I have more?" Utterly mystified, the boys passed their plates down to Starfire. She started to eat once more, and Raven could only smile and shake her head. At least Starfire was happy.

----------

It was only an hour or two later when they were contacted. There was trouble in Black City—the kind only the Teen Titans could handle. Raven tried to reach out and sense the villain that they would face as they traveled through the city, but she could do no such thing. Her heart was beating painfully in her chest, and her mind was consumed by the hope that Slade would not be their adversary.

When they arrived on the scene, Raven let a sigh of relief pass through her lips. It was only Plasmus sucking toxic waste from a tanker truck. Granted he had caused major property damage and was a general menace, but he could be easily dealt with. The creature shrieked and spat green gobs of goop at the Titans the moment they declared their presence. Beast Boy and Cyborg were unable to dodge, and were coated in the viscous ooze. For the sake of their already wounded pride, Raven made no mention of her thoughts.

Robin threw a birdarang with a shout, and the weapon sliced deep into Plasmus's chest. His arms went to his chest before he let out another shriek. Starfire let loose a star bolt, the energy rushing into the pathway carved by the birdarang. Compressed too much too quickly, the energy exploded inside Plasmus's body. The muck that formed the creature was blasted apart, leaving a faintly smoking peel atop spindly legs surrounded by blobs on the street.

The creature reformed immediately, grabbing the empty tanker and ripping it from the flatbed that carried it. Plasmus swung the tanker, aiming for Starfire. A second before impact, Raven appeared before Starfire. Her sword manifested in her right hand, and shadows formed a shield before her left arm. A quick swing cut through the tanker, and the mass of metal crashed against the shield. Plasmus spun about, thrown out of balance, as the portion of the tanker he still held did not impart its force upon Starfire as he had planned.

With a resounding crash, the other piece of the tanker fell to the ground. When Plasmus stomped forward and swung the piece he held again, Raven swept forward and sliced the creature's arms off. The tanker hit the ground with another crash, Plasmus's arms with a splat. An instant later, new arms had grown from the stumps. The clawed hands swelled into massive blocks, and the arms swung to clap the blocks together.

Starfire grabbed Raven's hands and pulled them both higher up into the air. The blocks smashed harmlessly together, reverting yet again to clawed hands while Plasmus shrieked his rage. He swiped at Robin, tearing gouges out of the street when Robin leapt out of the way. Beast Boy flew in as an eagle, jabbing at Plasmus's face with his talons. Plasmus's attempts to slap the eagle away were halted by a few choice shots by Cyborg's sonic cannon.

The shrieking fit that Plasmus decided to throw thereafter was enough for Raven. She closed her eyes and pressed the first two fingers of her right hand against the gem on her forehead. For a moment, the gesture only suggested irritation. Shadows surrounded her hand, and her eyes were glowing white when she opened them. Her hand came away from her face, palm open and facing toward Plasmus. A raven made of shadows pulled from her hand, flying toward Plasmus unnoticed. It vanished into the gooey creature, and he went quiet and still.

He exploded after a moment, covering the street and the Titans in ooze. All that remained of him was a human lying on the ground. The heroes came together to examine him, and were glad when they found that he was sound asleep. Still dripping muck, they grinned at one another.

"Who wants pizza?" Raven asked.

----------

"Oh, man, I am stuffed!" Cyborg declared.

"Me too," Beast Boy said.

"You guys said that four times already," Robin said with a chuckle. "I think the city knows you're stuffed."

"The squirrels here might not know yet." Starfire giggled at Raven's remark, but the boys paused and stared at her.

"Time out, time out!" Beast Boy cried. He jumped in front of Raven, forming his hands into a T, and looked at her quizzically. "You just made a joke!"

"I'm not allowed to?" she asked.

"No!" Beast Boy replied. "Well—yeah, you can, but…you usually only try to make Starfire laugh." Raven sidestepped around him, taking a few steps away from the group. With her back to them, they could not see her hug herself tightly. They could not see the worry and pain in her eyes.

"You're all my friends," she said after a moment. "You've always tried to make me laugh." She looked up at the clear blue sky, where the sun was steadily climbing toward high noon. "Besides, it's a nice day. We should enjoy it." She had no time to think, _While we can_, before it happened.

The world and sun darkened as if an eclipse were suddenly occurring. The darkness did not come from the shadow cast over the sun, however. It flowed from Raven. A hand of ice reached through her skin and took a tight hold of her spine. The hand jerked her suddenly backwards, and she felt her flesh burn and ache. She was yanked to the side, and then spun about. Eyes wide from pain both physical and mental, she saw the shock and horror on the faces of her friends. The hand pulled one last time before vanishing, and she fell back to the ground.

"Raven!" Her friends rushed to her, and Starfire did not hesitate to gather Raven into her arms. The marks were glaringly bright, the red light glittering in the tears that had welled in Raven's wide eyes.

"Today is the day?" Starfire whispered.

"The end of the world," Raven said. Two tears slid unstoppably down her cheeks, and she clenched her eyes shut, pressing her face against Starfire's shoulder.

----------

"OK everyone, you've heard it said before: this is not a drill." Raven stared at Robin from her placed cradled in Starfire's arms. He turned to face her with an encouraging smile. "Ever since you told us what would happen, we've been getting ready. We've never given up without a fight, and we aren't going to start now."

"Especially with our friend at stake," Beast Boy said with a fierce nod. They came to the end of the long hallway. After the incident in the park, the heroes had returned to the Tower immediately. Without an explanation, they had taken Raven down into the foundations of the building. It had been a perfectly practiced escort: Robin in the lead, while Beast Boy and Cyborg flanked Starfire and Raven from the rear.

Robin pulled the glove off his right hand, pressing his exposed skin against the scanner on the side wall. The door in front of them took up the entire wall, from ceiling to floor. With a clear, loud beep, the scanner recognized Robin's fingerprints, heat signature, and biometric readings and started to unlock the door. A rapid succession of clicks rang out as locks slid from their recesses. Two loud clangs came after the clicks had stopped. A faint hum that had been ever-present ceased abruptly, and the door swung open automatically.

"Twenty-four titanium deadbolts," Cyborg explained. "Four of them the size of steel girders going vertical and horizontal. There's an electromagnetic lock that holds the door right where it's supposed to be."

"But that's not all!" Beast Boy said. He grinned and jumped into the room behind the door as soon as it was possible. The walls seemed to gently glow. He gestured to the markings painted in light blue against soft white, and his voice reminded Raven of a television ad. "We've also got these awesome doodles on the wall that are guaranteed to kick invading demon butt, courtesy of one of the books that Starfire found in your room! Nothing's getting in to—um, get you! Pretty cool, huh?"

Starfire carried Raven into the room and set her down. Raven stared at the markings, recognizing them as powerful warding spells that could have come only from the book of Azarath. To be useful, the marks had to be scribed perfectly. From what she had memorized from the book, everything _was_ perfect. No line was thicker or shorter than was needed, no angle too acute or obtuse. The protective magic was just as strong as the gate barring the way to Azarath.

The room was a perfect example of a safe chamber for her. The door would take hours if not days to either disarm or dismantle. The stone walls were thick enough to stop most explosives, and the magic sealing the room was strong enough to stop most demons. Again, hope appeared in her chest, and it was because of her friends.

Alarm klaxons blared, red light bleeding into the room from the hallway. Raven turned to find her friends glaring at a view screen built into the wall. She went quickly to them, looking at the screen. An involuntary gasp slipped from her mouth at the sight she found. The camera was focused on the area outside the Tower, and Slade stood in the center of the shot. All around him were creatures made of hellfire, standing in formation as if they were militarily trained. An army of demons stood on their doorstep, and Raven knew they had come for her.

"Just like we planned," Robin growled. "We hold them off. Titans—"

"No!" Everyone turned to look at Raven, the hardened expressions on their faces contrasting sharply with the terror on hers. "You can't hold them off forever!"

"Only until midnight," Beast Boy replied with a shrug.

"That's still more than ten hours away, and we don't even know if they'll stop when today ends! You can't!"

"Hey, we've done the impossible before," Cyborg said with a proud smile.

"It's not the same thing! You aren't fighting against giant men made of rocks or monsters made out of electricity!"

"We are fighting for our friend," Starfire murmured. She took Raven's hands in hers and smiled. "Our dear friend." Raven could find nothing to say in reply, and so held tight to Starfire's hands in a silent plea for them not to go.

"Don't worry," Robin said gently to her. He turned to the others, nodding at them. "Let's go!" He, Cyborg, and Beast Boy charged down the hallway. Raven would not let go of Starfire's hands, and Starfire could feel the trembling that overwhelmed the young woman.

"We will not let this happen to you," she said. "We are not afraid to fight for you."

"But I am." Raven bowed her head, her voice fading to a whisper. "Please, don't go. I don't want any of you to get hurt because of me." Because she would not let go of Starfire's hands, Starfire tightened her grip. Raven looked up at her, wet trails on her cheeks. Starfire kissed her, letting the love she felt for Raven give both of them strength. They separated reluctantly, and Starfire smiled brightly.

"Stay here," she said. "We shall keep you safe." Raven closed her eyes and let go of Starfire's hands. They parted, Raven entering the room and Starfire locking the door behind her. She went to join her friends on the field of battle.

----------

Raven sat in the center of the room, legs drawn up against her chest and arms wrapped around her knees. Unable to form coherent thoughts because of her lingering fear, she cast her eyes around the room. She dwelled on how perfectly made the marks on the walls were and how much they reminded her of Azarath's gate. If Trigon were on Earth, the marks would certainly hinder him as the gate would. Only for two demons would the magic be useless, and it would be laughably so.

Protective magic can act as a silencer. If there was magical activity within the area being protected, it could go undetected by those that are not powerful enough to break through the protective seals. A spell to contact a person would be watched for in a siege, but the stronger the protective magic around the person casting the spell, the longer the message could be.

It was this idea that made Raven cross her legs in her meditative position, rest her hands on her knees, and close her eyes. She pulled in a breath, held it for a moment, and let it in a long sigh. Focus regained, she brought the spell to the fore of her mind and cast it. The bond she had to Chaos was strong—only dominated by the bond she had to Starfire. It took less than a second for the magic to find Chaos and connect their minds.

"Chaos?" Raven whispered aloud.

_Raven? _The voice she heard was familiar and comforting, and Raven managed a small smile despite herself.

"Chaos, I need your help," she said quickly. "The prophecy—tell me how to stop it, please!"

_Trigon's coming?_

"Yes—my friends are fighting Slade and an army of demons! Trigon sent them for me!"

_Dammit to hell and back! Listen to me. You've got to stop them from fighting. You're the only one who can protect anything now._

"What?"

_Keep them safe. They're the ones who need saving right now, not you._

"What are you saying?"

_I'm coming to help you, little blackbird. Everything will be fine—I promise._

Chaos's voice was so strong as she spoke the promise that Raven was unable to reply for a full minute. She still felt a strong connection in her mind, however, and drew breath to say a simple "thank you."

_Daughter._

The deep, rumbling voice make her choke on her own breath.

----------

"I'm here for Raven." It was a blunt statement, and like many blunt statements, it caused a stir. The Titans stood before the entrance to the Tower, glaring at Slade with all the hatred they had ever known in their lives. Slade stood at the head of a formation of demons, arms crossed behind his back.

"You're not going to have her." Robin stood with a short staff in each hand, eyes narrow.

"I assume you're all going to try and save her?"

"We're gonna save her, and we're gonna kick your butt." Cyborg's sonic cannon was at the ready, a shot charging in the barrel.

"What makes you so very certain of that?"

"We've kicked your butt before, and we'll do it again!" Beast Boy was in a knife fighter's stance, legs wide and bent and fists in front of him.

"You may have slowed me down, but you've never actually stopped me."

"We will not let you take Raven from us." Starfire hovered just off the ground, rage fueling the emerald energy in her hands and eyes.

"You don't have any say in the matter." Slade's hand came out from behind his back and began to rise. He pointed toward the Titans as Robin pointed toward him.

"Titans, GO!"

"Attack!"

Starfire grabbed Robin's two staffs and lifted him from the ground, flying high and fast. She threw him, and her aim was true. He flew through the air, leg extended, toward Slade. His foot caught the masked man in the face, the blow carrying both of them to the ground. Robin skid to a halt on the loose rocks, whirling to face Slade even as the man rose from the ground as if pulled by an invisible hand. The two staffs struck as one, hitting Slade's head on one side hard enough to snap his neck and send him spinning through the air. He righted himself and hit the ground feet first, neck healing instantly. His hands, enveloped by flames, clawed into the ground to stop his skid. Robin and Slade regarded each other for a moment before charging, their battle cries echoing alongside the shouts of the others.

Cyborg stood at the entrance, targeting systems in his robotic eye easily handling the swarms of fire demons that came his way. Blasts of sonic energy ripped them apart, flames dissipating in the night. He would remain where he stood as the last line of defense, and there was nothing that would make him leave his post. He paused only once to help Beast Boy, and it took a mere second out of his shooting. Despite the redoubling of his efforts to compensate for this lost second, he was forced to keep up his new pace as larger teams of demons tried to slip past.

Beast Boy leapt into Cyborg's hand as an armadillo in that second, spiraling perfectly into the sky over the center of the largest regiment of demons. He became a humanoid for the last three seconds of the flight to increase his drag and start his fall where he wanted to. His eyes closed for those three seconds, and he turned all his focus in upon himself. It had been a long time since he had looked at his own inner monster. He had been terrified of it, never knowing if it meant he was truly a savage beast. For the past two months he had dwelled on it, wondering endlessly if he should become the monster and risk loosing his humanity.

Beast Boy's decision came from Raven. He thought of how she used the strength of her demon's blood to fight for what was right, despite her obvious fears of what could come from the use of those powers. At that moment, his friend needed his help. That, Beast Boy decided, was the greatest reason to tame the beast that waited within him.

The great beast's claws tore through two demons before he hit the ground. Another three demons fell under one swing of his massive, shaggy arm. A hand made of flames grabbed his shoulder, and he twisted his head to bury sharp fangs in the hand. He jerked, flinging the demon that had tried to ambush him from behind into the one that was rushing him from the front. The instant the two demons collided, he was there, tearing them apart with his claws.

Starfire found herself surrounded by more adversaries than was possible to count in a single glance. She did not care. With her fingers closed around star bolts and rage coursing in her blood, she did not care if her enemies numbered ten or a thousand. A small leap lifted her from the ground, and she twisted her body. Hovering, she spun and let loose streams of energy. Dozens of the demons were eradicated in that single attack, but it was only the first.

Starfire rushed forward into the heart of the next regiment. She lashed out with a hard right hook, her fist breaking through a demon's body entirely. When the demon vanished into wisps of flame, she overbalanced, tipping forward. Another demon lunged forward, taking the obvious opportunity. Starfire put her hands onto the ground and turned the fall into a flip, striking the demon with both feet. The blow reduced the demon to piles of ash. The ash was whipped into the air as Starfire flew on.

----------

"You're not here. You can't be here."

_I can go wherever I like. I am with you wherever you go. I am part of you, daughter._

"This is just a vision. I'm not going to help you." She stood on a flat stone amidst a cavern filled with flames. She stared up at four glowing red eyes, hands clenched and shaking at her sides.

_You have no say in the matter. You are going to destroy the world that I may conquer it and the rest of mortal life._

"No! I'm not your puppet!" She rose from the ground, eyes glowing white. Shadows enveloped her hands, and she cast them at the glowing eyes. They struck not the eyes, but a hand that appeared from the flames. A figure that she had never seen before but found all too familiar manifested, standing in the middle of the flames. The light of the flames was lost upon the figure of the red-eyed man, black nothingness forming his body.

_No. That is all you are. I will always hold the strings, because your blood is my blood._

"I'm _nothing_ like you!" The light flooding from her eyes was dyed with the color of blood, and a new set—so much like her father's—opened on her forehead. The sensation was a slap in the face, as it always was, and she clapped her hands over her eyes. She sank slowly to the ground, breath coming in choked gasps.

_You surprise me, daughter. How could you ever think that you were anything more than the portal?_

He began to walk towards her, his footsteps shaking the ground. She looked up at him, four eyes wide.

_You have no power over your destiny. No matter what you have been told, you cannot escape this. No one can escape._

She was irresistibly drawn into the air, and his clawed hand rose up to act as the ground she stood upon.

_Your friends are fighting a loosing battle. You know this, and yet you allow them to suffer. I thought you cared for them. You hid your lineage for so long to protect them, and now you send them to their graves because of it. You are beyond help, daughter—mortal or otherwise._

"But—" Her protest was cut off by the flaring of the flames around them.

_There is nothing you can do but accept this._

"But father—I don't want to."

_You cannot run from your destiny any further, daughter._

His hand closed, and Raven was lost to his darkness.

----------

Slade's boot caught Robin's chin, flinging him into the waiting arms of a demon. Robin thrashed, and he saw that his friends were caught in the embrace of fire just as he was. He turned to glare at Slade, but did not give up in his struggles.

"I expected nothing less of you," the masked man murmured. "You've always gone out fighting. It's appropriate that you spend your last day alive fighting an impossible battle."

"It is not our last day!" Robin snarled.

"I beg to differ," Slade chuckled. He lifted a hand before Robin's face. It burst into flames, and Robin could not stop the sweat that began to roll down his face.

"STOP!" Slade's hand closed automatically, flames dying. The demons let go of their quarry, backing away to stand in formation. Those nearest the Tower parted, allowing the cloaked figure to pass through their ranks.

"Raven?" Starfire whispered. Raven did not look at her friends, walking to stand before Slade. She looked at him, her face grim and her eyes hard.

"I'll go with you," she said.

"No!" Beast Boy and Cyborg shouted.

"Get back in the safe room!" Robin ordered. Starfire's hands took hold of Raven's shoulders. Her grip was tight, but her fingers were trembling.

"Raven, please, do not do this." Raven reached up and touched Starfire's hands. "Do not leave us."

"I'm sorry." Shadows arced out from Raven's hand as she lifted it over her head. The moment the shadows touched them, the Titans were gone, taken into unconsciousness. They were lifted from their feet and laid gently on the ground. Raven looked at them, her gaze lingering on Starfire. "Please—be safe." She turned back toward Slade, unwilling to meet his eye. "Let's go."

----------

"So what has he promised you? Money? Power? Minions?"

"That, dear girl, is none of your business."

"He'll never deliver it, whatever it is." Slade chuckled, and the sound echoed in the stone hallway. It echoed alongside their footsteps and the faint crackling of the fire demons' bodies. Raven no longer felt the sinister chill that followed Slade's laughter. She sighed, shaking her head inside the shadows of her hood as Slade spoke again.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." His tone was confident, but there sat a small point of doubt within him. She sensed that doubt, and could not help but speak a few choice words to make it grow.

"I know my father," she murmured. "He doesn't really care about things that aren't useful to him. The only reason you and I are here is because he needs to use us. Once we've done our parts, we'll both be disposed of. You won't get a thing from him."

"Shut your mouth, you stupid girl!" She felt the heat of the flames roiling in his hands as surely as she felt his anger. Both the heat and the anger vanished suddenly, replaced by confusion as Slade found himself taken into the grasps of three fire demons. They forced him to his knees, pulling his arms until they popped out of his shoulders and holding them against his back. "Let go of me! Damn you—obey me!" One of their hands grabbed his head and wrenched it, forcing him to look up at Raven.

"You're already useless." Her voice was cold, the echo of her words drowning out all other sound. "He knows it. That's why they aren't listening to you." Her four eyes were glowing red, glaring at him with a malice that managed to tighten his throat painfully. She turned away after a moment, starting down the dark hallway. "Leave him." The demons released him, and he watched them vanish before standing up.

----------

The Titans struggled to their feet. For a brief moment, they stood in silence. None of them understood, and so they did not ask the questions that could not be answered.

"Cyborg?" Robin asked. Cyborg lifted his right arm, tapping at his sensors to hone in on the signal of Raven's communicator. With a small beep, the sensor typed out the location and provided a small map of the city on which a red pulsing dot appeared.

"The old library," Cyborg murmured.

"It is not too late," Starfire said quickly. They looked at one another and nodded

"Titans, GO!"

----------

Raven stared up at the slowly moving sun. It was blackened, tendrils of eerie white light fluttering out from behind the black shadow to give off something similar to moonlight. She stood with her arms wrapped around herself, stalling. There were only three more minutes until the spell had to be cast. She shuddered, closing her eyes tight. There had been a chance. If she had remained at the Tower, she could have escaped it. The tradeoff for her escape, however, was the lives of her friends. If she had remained for an instant longer, they would have been killed.

Now she stood on the precipice. The window for her freedom was shrinking with each minute that ticked away. Chaos had to appear. She had to—she promised to help. Raven swallowed, looking up at the sun once again. Two minutes were all she had left. The call was stronger than ever. The hatred she felt for her destiny had not weakened in the least, but the uncontrollable demand in her blood to fulfill it was overwhelming. Her hands, once trembling and tight, grew still and loose.

She had started to take a step toward the stone hand rising from the ground when an explosion rang out. Flashes of bright green and blue cut through the red sheen of the fire demons, and battle cries bounced off of the stone walls. Raven turned and saw her friends charging through the demons, dozens upon dozens of the creatures falling from their attacks. Before she could speak, the demons rose up as a single massive wave of fire and washed over the Titans. They were instantly captured in fire that did not burn, but threatened to snap each bone that it touched. The boys struggled furiously, but Starfire reached out a pleading hand.

"Raven!" she cried. Raven's eyes lit with white and she gestured quickly. The demons withdrew, sinking into the ground and vanishing. The heroes met each other halfway, stopping a few paces apart. Raven looked at them, and her eyes were wet with unshed tears.

"You can't stop it," she murmured. "It's already started."

"No!" Starfire said. "Please, Raven, do not do this! This does not have to be your fate!"

"It is," Raven replied. "I know that it is."

"You do not have to do this!"

"I've known all my life that this is what I'm supposed to do." She sighed and looked toward the ceiling. One minute was left. "I've tried all my life to fight it, and look at where I've gotten. I've done good things—fought evil—Heaven has touched me—and nothing has changed what's going to happen."

"But how can you know that this is what will truly happen? You cannot know all that is to be." The words brought a smile to Raven's lips as she looked at her friends once more.

"I didn't know a lot of things about my life," she murmured. "I didn't know I'd find such wonderful friends." She reached out and took Starfire's hands in hers, pressing a soft kiss against her knuckles. "And I didn't know that I'd find a lover like you." Tears streamed from Starfire's eyes. She clutched Raven's hands tightly, her shoulders beginning to quake.

"Do not do this," she pleaded. "Do not leave me."

"I don't want to," Raven whispered. She kissed Starfire softly, longingly. It was a kiss from a lover that was soon to leave—a lover that would not return. When Raven pulled away, Starfire was too overwhelmed to keep her grip tight. Raven's hands slipped away from hers. "I'm sorry." A sweep of her hand brought a wall of shadows up between Raven and her friends. She turned away, raising her hood over her head.

"No." Starfire's choked whisper brought about a flurry of action. Robin rushed at the shadows, ramming it with his shoulder. Beast Boy backed away before becoming a rhinoceros and charging. Cyborg fired shot after shot from his sonic cannon. Starfire hurled a punch hard enough to make her arm quiver when the wall did not give way. She pummeled the wall until the skin of her knuckles threatened to break. Blasts shot from her eyes and hands, but produced no more of an effect than any other attacks—either from her or the boys—had done.

Raven walked forward, and stones lifted from the ground to provide her with a stairway. She strode up into the clawed stone hand, stopping only when she stood in the center of the palm. Her feet lifted from the ground and her legs tucked under her body. Her hands closed, middle and ring fingers touching her palms. Raven closed her eyes, knowing that time had run out.

"The gem was born of evil's fire."

_Please, Starfire, forgive me._

"The gem shall be his portal."

_I'm sorry._

"He comes to claim."

_I'm so sorry!_

"He comes to sire…"

_Starfire—please, forgive me!_

"The end of all things mortal."

----------

Hell's tortures are not unique to the dead. She discovered this as the marks became the inscriptions needed to open the portal. They had been burned down into her body, and now they were taken from her. They were ripped from her bone, strained from her blood, torn from her flesh. No part of her was spared of this pain, and it barely faded as the symbols began to circle around her. Her eyes were flooded with light, and her mouth was open in a silent scream.

The pain of the flesh is nothing, however, compared to the pain of the soul. She could not even shed the tears that had gathered in her eyes the pain was so great. Her soul was rent from its place within her body, bits and pieces tearing away from the ragged thing as her body began to change. Light consumed her, but the pain of the twisting and warping body faded as her soul was dragged away.

_STARFIRE!_

----------

"_RAVEN!_" Starfire could only watch as Raven's body vanished in the light. The red symbols swirled faster than ever before, shrinking and contracting upon the sphere of light. With a flash, the sphere became a flat circle of dancing fire. It began to lower through the air, breaking apart and annihilating the stone hand as it went. The portal came to lie upon the ground, opening to reveal nothing but darkness and flames. A clawed hand was thrust up through the portal, and a body followed the hand.

Horns looking of crooked tree branches rose from a white-haired, red-skinned head. Four glowing red eyes stared out from above a mouth filled with massive fangs. He was bare-chested, wearing only a loincloth and jewel-encrusted belt. His hands were clawed, and his feet cloven hooves. His head tilted back as he let out his first words on the planet.

"THE EARTH—IS MINE!"

—to be continued—


	17. The End: Chapter 6

The End: Chapter 6

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

Flames washed over the Earth. Land and water burned away into stone and magma. Life was ended countless times. The portal had brought forth Trigon, and his reign upon Earth had begun.

----------

Starfire lay still for many minutes, staring up at the darkness. She did not know how long she had been enveloped by the shadows, and the only thing she could think of was how familiar it seemed. It was a warm, comforting embrace that she knew from what felt like a past life. Her hands reached up toward the shadows, a name finally working its way past her lips.

"Raven." The shadows crumbled away, stone and dust that had piled at the edges of the shield falling to the ground. Starfire stood up and began to walk, unsure of where to go. She could not help but see the statues of people scattered amidst the rubble in the streets. She felt the heat of the flames that ate away at the broken buildings. Once or twice she looked up from staring at her feet in an attempt to find where she was, but the sight of the red clouds in the sky drove her eyes to the ground once more.

The end of a world was surprisingly quiet. The only things Starfire heard were her own footsteps and a faint rumbling that came from all around her. As she continued to walk, she could only think of Raven. Even though she had seen her vanish—even though she had felt her heart shatter at the sight—a lingering sense of something sat in her chest.

She stopped, her feet at the edge of a massive chasm in the shape of a circle. Far below, stone steps rose high into the air, ending above another pit in the ground. Starfire stepped off the edge, lowering slowly into the chasm. She moved slowly through the giant boulders that had been created when Trigon broke through to the ground above the chamber. Her eyes combed over every inch of the room, and she left nothing unexamined. She lifted star bolts to drive away shadows, reaching into cracks and fissures in the stone when she could not look closely enough.

It was not a physical sign that made her look about. In this place, the pulse that had been gently running alongside her own grew stronger. The only thing she found was a scrap of soft, slightly singed blue cloth. As she held it in her hand, she understood.

"Starfire!" She looked up as Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy leapt down from the ledge above her. They landed near her, and she could not stop the smile that came to her face.

"My friends!" she said. "You are unharmed!"

"So?" Cyborg grumbled. "I'd have to say we lost, man."

"But we are still here!" Starfire protested. "We are still together!" She held out her hand, revealing the blue cloth in her palm.

"Star, that's just some cloth," Robin murmured gently. "Raven's—gone."

"Please, friends, wait!" She held her hand out more insistently, and all of them looked at the cloth. "Tell me—what brought you here?" None of them answered, and Starfire's smile grew. "You were drawn here, just as I was, correct? There is something yet to be done!"

"What?" Beast Boy's voice was not skeptical, but increasingly curious. Starfire looked up from the cloth and saw the coldness in the faces of her friends starting to fade.

"We may still fight. Raven is not gone from us." The trio reached out their hands as one, and, as one, touched Starfire's hand. Darkness swirled into being from where they touched one another, growing into a sphere they recognized instantly. They pulled away slowly, but the shadows remained around each of their hands.

"Her powers," Cyborg murmured. He flexed his hand, a grin appearing as he felt the second heartbeat in his chest fuel the darkness.

"She gave 'em to us?" Beast Boy asked. He concentrated, tossing the sphere from one hand to the other. A laugh bubbled out of his chest while the second heartbeat gave him the control to juggle the shadows in his hands.

"Incredible," was the only word Robin could say. He gripped the shadows tightly in his hand, the second heartbeat throbbing in his fingers to keep the shadows contained.

"We have not yet lost," Starfire said. She cupped the shadows in both hands, smiling at the strength of the second heartbeat in her chest. "We must not give up."

"Good to know you're all still alive." They spun at the voice, finding a tall figure standing at the top of the stone stairs. "But that little display of power a minute ago did make me think you were Raven."

"Chaos?" Starfire whispered. The demon woman smiled at her and began to walk down the stairs. "Why are you here?"

"To help," Chaos said simply.

"Oh yeah!" Beast Boy cried, pumping his fist in the air. "Four eyes won't have a chance against you! We're gonna kick his big red butt!" Chaos chuckled, hopping over the last few stairs and landing before the Titans.

"I'd love to help you with that last part, but you need to fight him on your own for a while," she murmured. "I'm here to find Raven first."

"But she's gone," Robin said in protest.

"No—she's not." The Titans whirled immediately, Chaos turning with a smirk. Slade emerged from the shadows of an alcove, striding forward until he was a few yards away. Robin pulled birdarangs from his utility belt as Cyborg's arm reconfigured into the sonic cannon. Starfire took hold of star bolts as Beast Boy became a massive lion.

"That's enough," Chaos said loudly. She stepped toward Slade, holding one arm out to the side to stave off any attacks. Smirk still curling her lips, she glanced over her shoulder at the Titans. "I'll handle this." She turned back toward Slade, crouching down and taking hold of a large stone. As she began to walk forward, she tossed the stone into the air, catching it and tossing it over and over.

"All right," she murmured. "Let's pretend for a minute that none of you know me. The first thing you should know is that I'm really impatient. Another thing you should know is that I know quite a bit about many things—like this rock, for example. I know where and how hard to press to make it break exactly the way I want it to. Observe."

She held up the stone, revealing it as a rough-edged oblong. After turning it about a few times, she put it in the palm of one hand. She laid her other hand over the stone and pressed hard. The stone snapped, shards of it tumbling to the ground when she loosened her grip. She held it up again, and showed that it had broken into a sharply pointed dagger.

"See?" Chaos asked. "Just the way I wanted it. Now, as for my impatience." She vanished suddenly, and Slade found himself forced to his knees. A clawed hand held both of his arms behind his back, and the sharp point of the stone was centimeters from his eye. "You'll lead me to Raven, since you seem to know where she is."

"Fair enough," Slade replied.

"Good." Chaos tossed the stone away and let the man stand up. He massaged his wrists and brushed off his shoulders as she turned back toward the Titans.

"What are you doing?" Robin demanded. "He's the one that helped Trigon do all of this!"

"And he's the only one that knows where Raven is," Chaos replied.

"Then let him tell us where she is!" Beast Boy snarled. "We'll go find her!"

"It's not that simple," Chaos muttered.

"If all of you decide to go on this little rescue operation, Trigon is sure to know," Slade said. He sighed at the dubious glares he received. "He is all-seeing."

"Don't flatter him," Chaos growled. "His sight's limited to what he's concentrating on. If you want to help Raven, you'll make sure he's concentrating on you."

"Why can't you be the bait?" Beast Boy whined. "I'm always the bait!"

"No," Robin murmured. "It makes sense." Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire turned to stare at him. "Chaos is here too conveniently. If we attack Trigon, he'll think we're just trying to get revenge for Raven. If Chaos attacks him, he'll know something's going on behind his back."

"You'll distract Trigon," Chaos said simply. "Zombie-boy and I will find Raven." She turned to Slade, but paused. Her hand shot out and grabbed his, twisting his arm as she lifted his hand. "You know, that'd explain why you're not dead yet." She pulled a ring from his finger before dropping his arm. Examining the ring closely, she scowled. She turned it in her fingers, and it snapped in half. "Thought so."

"What was it?" Robin asked.

"A ring of Azar," Slade replied. "It would have protected you against Trigon's attacks."

"Now you're giving those damn monks too much credit," Chaos said. "The thing snapped just by me handling it. Besides, no one needs it." She smiled at the Titans. "You've got all the protection you need." She gave Slade a sardonic smirk. "And as long as you show me where Raven is first, I don't care if something comes up and rips off your head."

"If you're done making colorful allusions to my death," Slade murmured. "The longer we stay here, the greater the chances that Trigon will find us."

"Let's get going then." Chaos looked at each of the Titans in turn, ending on Starfire. Her gaze softened at the plea in Starfire's eyes. Before anything could be said, Starfire rushed forward and buried her face in Chaos's chest. Chaos smiled and patted Starfire on the head. "I promised Raven that everything would be fine. Don't worry. Go on." Starfire nodded and backed away. With a final parting glance, the Titans rushed up the stone stairs, leaping up onto the ledge above and vanishing. Chaos turned to Slade, smirking at him.

"Ready now?" he asked.

"Lead on, zombie-boy."

----------

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!_" Trigon opened his eyes to find darkness rushing at him. The blow the darkness gave him was painful, and he let loose a roar despite himself. Snarling, he brought his hand up and clawed through the darkness. The attack stopped, he cast his sight upon the four heroes floating before him.

"I see that a few insects have survived my wrath," he growled. "Even with the gift my daughter imparted unto you, you will not survive again." He lifted his hand, but paused. A grin bared his fangs and he lowered his hand once more. He leaned back into the throne he had made from Titan's Tower, his eyes glowing bright. "No. Not so soon. After so long an imprisonment, I would enjoy some sport. You will supply me with entertainment—just as you will supply your own greatest enemies."

Light lanced from his eyes, arcing and speeding toward each of the four. Before the light could touch them, however, shadows surrounded them and immediately stopped the beams of light. Trigon's eyes went wide with shock, and he sent out another burst of magic with a rage-filled cry. The shadows did not give way to the attack, or the four others that followed it. Snarling, Trigon slammed his fist down on the charred roof of the Tower. After a moment, he let out a hissing sigh, eyes narrow.

"My minions will have to do," he said. "But you are still no match for them." As the Titans floated back onto stable ground, legions of fire demons rose up around them. The four heroes grouped together, standing back to back.

"We can take 'em," Cyborg whispered. "I know we can this time."

"We've got to drag it out," Robin hissed in return. "Buy some time. The more he thinks we're having trouble, the more he'll be entertained."

"So…ham it up?" Beast Boy asked. He restrained the urge to grin when he saw the tiny nod Robin gave him. The fire demons advanced on them, and Beast Boy let out a squeal that was only half-false.

"Destroy them," Trigon snarled. The battle began.

----------

"Sit, zombie-boy." Slade blinked when Chaos pulled the boat's stone pole from his hands. When he did not do as she commanded, she put a foot behind his legs and shoved him. He stumbled, falling hard on the seat by the rudder.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Let's think for a second," Chaos said plainly. She lifted the pole in her hands and shoved it hard against the bed of the magma river. The boat was pushed into the river, traveling a great distance before Chaos had to push again. "You're the only one who knows where in the hell we're going." She brought the pole out of the magma, reaching out and stabbing it into the soft ground. "We're in a boat made out of stone trying to go down a river of magma." She pulled at the pole, and the boat was pushed hard enough to create a wake from the heavy molten rock. "I'm considerably stronger than you. This setup makes a lot of sense, doesn't it, zombie-boy?"

"My name is Slade," he said darkly.

"I DON'T CARE!" The boat was pushed forward even harder than before, and Slade fell back against the rudder's handle. He looked up to see six glowing red eyes glaring at him. When he blinked, she had only two eyes, but the glare remained. "I've looked into your mind. You sold your soul to Trigon, and he double-crossed you. The only reason you're leading me to Raven is because you want protection on your way to save yourself."

"What do you want to hear from me?" Slade asked defiantly. "Do you want me to beg for forgiveness? Do you want to see me on my knees, pleading for you to accept my most heartfelt apologies for what I've done to your little blackbird?" The tip of her sword was held steady and closer to his eye than the stone had been.

"If you ever call her that again, I will carve out that eye you treasure so much," she whispered. She sheathed the sword and reached out with the pole again, pulling the boat along. "Now steer." Slade did what she said, moving the rudder from side to side to guide the boat around the rocks that jutted up from the magma. They traveled on in silence for many minutes, perfectly comfortable in that silence. Despite this, Slade looked up when Chaos let out a sigh.

"What now?" he asked.

"How close do you think we are?" she inquired. Slade looked about, seeing the opposite shore and the pathway thereupon about a hundred meters away.

"Very," he answered. "Don't you see the path up ahead?" He saw her head turn briefly toward the shore.

"Ah. All right then." She pushed the boat hard again.

"Why didn't you see it before?" Slade asked.

"Duck." Before he could ask what she meant, her hand was on his head, forcing him to bend double. Struggling vainly against her hold, Slade managed to twist his head far enough to look up. A fire demon swept over him from behind, swinging its arm at Chaos. She let the arm strike her chest. The demon tried to continue on in its flight, but was jerked to a halt. It was drawn into Chaos, vanishing with a few mere sparks to mark its passing. Chaos took her hand from Slade's head, turning away to pull the boat along. "Stay low."

"And that was?" Slade asked. He slid into the bottom of the boat, only keeping his arm higher up to guide the rudder.

"I'm rather recognizable to other demons," Chaos answered. "If I walked around like I always do when Trigon's the only other demon, he'd notice me pretty damn fast." She turned slightly and tapped at her chest with a clawed finger, grinning. "Magic void, right here. Makes me seem like a blank space in the world to mister 'all-seeing.'"

"And it voids any magic that you come in contact with."

"Right. I absorb fire naturally anyway, so it works wonders on Trigon's little army." Another demon rose from the magma and flew at the boat. The moment it came into contact with her, it was sucked away. She chuckled, pulling the boat forward. Slade said nothing, choosing instead to remain quietly impressed.

----------

Trigon was torn between rage and amusement. His newest toys had not yet broken, still rising whenever they fell. Despite his previous anger at how unaffected the heroes had been by his magic, he could not help but smile darkly at the prospect of their fate.

Each victory was attained from a hair's breadth of defeat. Often times the heroes would come together in pairs, trios, or even as a whole to triumph over their adversaries. The sight of this exertion called forth a low chuckle from Trigon's throat. He sat back in his self-made throne and watched, patience to wait for their demise constantly renewed.

"Everyone all right?" Robin asked in a hurried whisper. Cyborg took hold of his arms and swung him about. The resulting kick from the boy wonder knocked off the head of a rushing demon.

"I'm good," Cyborg replied. "B.B.?" The green ram smashed his curled horns into the chest of the demon that had been slowly advancing towards Cyborg's back. He quickly shifted to his humanoid form, crouching low on his knees.

"Just fine," he said. "Star?" A star bolt shot past his pointed ear, cleanly blowing apart the demon that had leapt at him. Starfire gave the boys the smallest of smiles, quickly turning it to a grim frown.

"I am well," she murmured. They split apart immediately, that much reassured. Each of them could feel the second heartbeat taking away their weariness and fueling their attacks. Blows that managed to work their ways around the defenses the heroes lifted were always softened significantly, always failing against the magic they unnoticeably carried.

It was not a losing battle—only one that had to be dragged out for as long as possible. Because of this, the Titans acted as though they were on the knife's edge of defeat while standing firmly in control. Trigon remained entertained.

----------

"I'm curious about something." Chaos rolled her eyes at the man walking a few paces ahead of her. His face was turned slightly, his eye fixed on her as he walked blindly forward. "Why are you so driven to help Raven?"

"That's my business, zombie-boy," Chaos replied. "Just like it's your business why you try to ruin people's lives."

"But we both understand my drive in that regard," Slade said. "I want power."

"And you'll do whatever it takes for it, even if it means hurting people," Chaos said in a bored voice. "Blah, blah, blah. I know all about it. Just because I know the universal reasons behind the lust for power doesn't give you the privilege of knowing why I do what I do."

"Fair enough," Slade murmured. He turned to face forward once more. "If you must know, my asking was fueled by your nature. You don't hesitate to kill or maim, and the only reason I'm not dead or disfigured is because I'm useful to you. Despite this, you are more or less walking through hell and back to help a young woman who—apart from being a respectable hero—is equivalent to a grain of sand in the larger scope of your power and life. You can see how a person could be curious about the reasons behind this little endeavor."

"I can see," Chaos replied. "Doesn't mean I'm going to tell _you_ anything, zombie-boy." Slade went quiet, playing his part as the guide. They reached a fork in the path after another long period of silence. The split to the left led downwards, winding to vanish around a bend far in the distance. The split to the right went almost immediately into a fissure in the wall they stood before. Chaos watched as Slade started to walk down the left-hand split. "Raven's to the right, isn't she?"

"For someone who required a guide, you certainly know quite a bit about where to go," Slade said. He turned to face her, and they regarded each other for a long moment.

"Learned a lesson about dealing with demons?" Chaos asked. She grinned at him, and he could not hide the narrowing of his eye when he saw her fangs.

"Indeed I have," he replied. They nodded to one another before parting and going down their separate paths. Chaos strode into the fissure, emerging on the other side of the wall after another long, winding walk. The pathway continued on, pillars of stone rising from the magma far below to support the slabs that created the path. Chaos looked about, finding a broken building standing at the end of the path. She chuckled when she saw the fragments of the stained-glass window in the front of the building.

Pace quickening at the prospect of finding Raven, Chaos went forward once again. She ignored the masses of molten rock sitting on the pathway, even as they turned into fire demons. They lashed out at her as she passed by them, but she felt only the faintest of heat from the sparks they left behind after disappearing. Chaos stopped before the shattered church, reaching out and taking the handles of the closed doors in her hands. The first tug she gave to the handles proved the doors to be barred. The second ripped the doors cleanly from their burned hinges.

A flash of white and a soft gasp drew her attention immediately. She looked up to see the edge of a white cloak vanishing through a hole in the back of the building. Dropping the doors, Chaos rushed forward through the rows of ashes. At the sight of the cloak, she had felt Raven's unmistakable aura. Both stunned and overjoyed, she did not cry out for Raven to stop. By the time she ran through the broken wall, the white cloak was a small spot at the bottom of the steep stairway carved into the slope.

Two leaps took her to the bottom of the stairs, her gaze locked on the edge of the cloak that threatened to vanish around every corner. She dodged through tightly grouped stone pillars, relying on the way she sensed Raven to guide her when the cloak finally pulled away too far for her to keep her eyes upon it. The pillars ended abruptly, opening to create a small clearing. She walked slowly toward the white cloak that sat huddled at the far side of the clearing, pausing briefly when she heard weeping moans.

"Raven," Chaos said gently. The soft whimpers stopped, and the little girl in the white cloak turned around to look at Chaos. The girl's face was streaked with tears that spilled from violet eyes. Short, dark hair fell around her face, the dark red gem on her forehead at odds with her pale skin.

"Kei?" Chaos nodded and crouched down on the balls of her feet, smiling at the nickname she hadn't heard in thirteen years. She chuckled quietly when the whimpers started anew.

"What's wrong, little blackbird?" she asked. Raven's small hands moved away from the knee they had been clutching, revealing a scrape that was slowly oozing blood. Chaos gave a low, sympathetic croon, sinking down on one knee. She held her arms out to the little girl, beckoning her forward with small waves of her fingers. "Come here." Raven stood up and toddled into the demon woman's arms, pressing her face hard against Chaos's chest and clutching at her shirt.

Chaos sat down and put Raven in her lap, gently rubbing her back as she rocked back and forth. Making soft shushing sounds, she put her hand over the scrape. The wound was healed in an instant, and she rubbed Raven's knee to sooth any lingering hurt. Raven's tears stopped, but she drew as close as she could to Chaos.

"This is a bad place," she whimpered. "I'm scared."

"I know," Chaos said. "I know." Raven looked up at her, closing her eyes when Chaos's thumb wiped the wet trails from her face. Chaos's voice was soft and reassuring, as was her touch. "Things are bad right now, but only for now." She smiled, putting her forehead against Raven's. "What did I tell you to do about bad times?"

"Wait," Raven said quietly.

"And?" Chaos asked.

"Hope," was the soft answer. Chaos smiled and stroked Raven's hair, letting the girl rest her head against her shoulder. For a time, they simply sat together, Chaos with a smile on her face and Raven with a look of worried sadness. When that time had passed, Chaos stood up, cradling Raven in her arms.

"Come on," she said. "Let's get you home." Putting Raven on her back to carry the small girl was a smooth motion that spoke of how many times she had done it before. In an equally fluid way, Raven wrapped her arms around Chaos's neck and her legs around Chaos's chest. With one arm supporting Raven's backside, Chaos strode out of the clearing and through the winding stone pillars.

"How far is it?" Raven asked. Chaos chuckled, reaching up and taking Raven's small hands in her own.

"It's a ways, little blackbird," she said. Raven's grip tightened as she pressed her face against Chaos's shoulder.

"Tell me a story?"

"Sure. Want to hear about my daughter?" Raven lifted her head, looking at Chaos in surprise.

"You have a daughter?" Chaos smiled and nodded, seeing Raven's astonished expression from the corner of her eye.

"I've never actually had a child of my own, but I think of her as my daughter."

"What's she like?" Chaos turned her gaze to the path ahead, smile widening at the curiosity in Raven's voice.

"Good."

"Good?"

"Mm-hmm. She's always making me proud of her."

"Why?"

"Well, she's smart, for one. I never had to tell her anything too many times before she understood. She's very pretty, but she just thinks I'm being nice when I tell her that. What I'm proud of most is how strong she is. She's always been powerful, and she always does the right thing. Down for a minute, little blackbird." Chaos leapt into the waiting stone boat, gently sitting Raven down on one of the seats. She picked up the stone pole and pushed away from the shore. Balancing on one foot, she gripped the rudder's handle with her toes and steered the boat.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked suddenly. Chaos hummed a wordless question, glancing down to find Raven looking at her. "About the right thing?"

"She helps people who need help. She's incredibly powerful, but she never glorified it. Hell, she doesn't even know how powerful she is. It's always been there, that power, but she's never tried to take all of it for herself. I think she's scared of it, actually." They traveled on in silence, Raven staring at the bottom of the boat. When they reached the opposite shore, Chaos put Raven onto her back and started to walk once more.

----------

As the battle continued to show no sign of nearing its end, Trigon's scowl grew. No longer did he consider the delaying of the fates of his enemies entertainment. Their constant victories were little more than increasingly irritating. He very briefly thought of allowing the heroes a few minutes more. The grim expressions on their faces and the sweat rolling on their skin made him believe that they would fall within those minutes.

It was the flicker of a smile he saw on each of their faces that sent burning rage to consume what little patience he had remaining. He saw the tiny smiles that came after every fallen demon and every time they gathered as a single group. With each smile he saw, his understanding of how long they had been fooling him multiplied. As his minions continued to fall, Trigon stood up.

"Enough!" he roared. The fire demons stood back in formation, and the Titans turned to look at Trigon. "Insolent fools! Do you truly believe that this play-acting will gain you anything more than my wrath?" Far below on the ground, Beast Boy bit his tongue before he could blurt out anything. The lack of an answer only served to enrage the demon further. He let his head roll back, letting loose a roar that rattled the stones on the ground. One clawed hand swung up over his head.

When the hand came down, the Titans were already far out of its reach. Trigon tore the ground apart, digging open a chasm with a single drag of his claws. The ground began to shake and rumble as the chasm opened through magic, red light pouring from the darkness of the underground. Swarms of fire demons, even larger than before, rose and spilled out of the chasm. They joined their brethren already standing around the Titans, hissing and snapping and moving steadily closer.

"Dudes—I don't think—I can kick—that much butt," Beast Boy panted. The sweat upon their skin was real; the second heartbeat could only take so much of their weariness away. Their muscles ached from overuse and from the bruises that were developing. Blood ran from cuts and claw marks. Beast Boy leaned heavily on his knees, ears drooping low and nose dripping red. Cyborg's power meter was flashing a warning light next to the readout of nine percent. Starfire was standing on the ground, sucking in deep breaths to try to compensate for all the energy used. Robin stood with only a staff, all other gadgets from his utility belt broken or simply lost.

"He's still focused on us," the boy wonder murmured. "We can keep it up even if we retreat." He nodded at Cyborg and Starfire.

"Then let's get our butts outta here!" Cyborg shouted. He lifted his sonic cannon as Starfire lifted her hands. The continuous blasts of energy cleared a path through the demons, and they rushed down that path. Trigon, so stunned by the sudden escape attempt, allowed the attempt to become yet another success. The heroes were away, running as fast as they could.

"_Find them! Kill them!_"

----------

"What happened to her?" Chaos continued to climb up the tower of stone. She glanced down at the rivers and pools and falls of magma far below and then up at the top of the tower. There were towers scattered all around, wide at the bottom but narrowing as the eye traveled up. At the peaks of these towers were flat tops. It would be easier to climb one tower and leap from peak to peak as opposed to following the winding, slow rising path along the edges of the magma. The path was bizarrely created: the towers supported the path as it rose into the air and zigzagged back and forth through the massive chamber. "Kei?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened to your daughter?" Raven repeated. Finally listening, Chaos paused. It was a moment before she began to climb again. She was careful in her actions, only one hand free to stab claws into the stone and create a handhold. She felt Raven's gaze on her face, but did not meet it.

"I left."

"Why?"

"I was scared."

"You were?" The utter surprise and shock in Raven's voice made Chaos smile.

"I was. What—I can't be scared?"

"You just…you never are. What scared you?"

"I love her very much—I didn't want her to get hurt because of me." Raven's grip tightened.

"I'd hurt if you left me." Chaos closed her eyes to banish the ache that suddenly arose in them. When she opened them again, she smiled slightly.

"I know I hurt her," she murmured. Before she could explain, however, the chamber began to shake and rumble. The largest pool of magma split apart, and fire demons flew from the gap. They rushed through the air, smashing through any rock that stood in their way. Chaos jerked backwards to dodge a demon that came blindly at her hands, digging in with the claws on her toes. Another demon smashed into the stone her feet were on, breaking through it and throwing Chaos from her place.

Raven pressed her face against Chaos's neck, tightening her grip as they fell through the air. A flip brought them out of their wild tumble, and Chaos reached out with her hands and feet. Her grip was too tight, and they continued to slide down as her claws tore through the stone. She loosened her hands, pulling her claws back. Her fingers automatically snapped closed on the first ledge they sensed, claws stabbing into the stone, and the slide was instantly stopped.

The jerk was nothing to Chaos's grip, but everything to Raven's. Her fingers slipped away from their place around her wrists when her arms struck Chaos's neck, and she continued to fall. Chaos felt the girl's small fingers scrabble at her shoulders, turning to look back. She saw Raven falling away from her, and her heart shuddered horribly.

"RAVEN!" Eyes wide and face aghast, she tore a hand away from the stone, reaching out as far as she could. Her fingers closed on air.

"KEI!" The scream drove a knife into Chaos's very being. Raven was falling, hands outstretched, toward the chasm filled with magma—and Chaos was letting her. Such a thought tried to make itself known and plunge another knife into Chaos, but she struck it down before it could do anything. She crouched down, leaping from the wall with enough force to shatter the stone under her feet.

Raven clenched her eyes shut when she felt the heat of the magma on her back. She curled into a ball, hands clasping together at her chest. Breath refused to come to her, and the heat surrounded her as she fell into the void. Clawed hands took hold of her shoulders, pulling her close. The fall was abruptly stopped once more, but the arms that held her near did not let her slip away. Raven opened her eyes and looked up.

"Hold—on." Chaos's voice was nothing more than a rasp of agony. Her skin had gone white, her eyes narrow, and her face drawn. Raven stared, horrified, at the incredible pain she saw. When Chaos leapt upward, her gaze was drawn naturally down. She saw the foot-shaped indentations in the magma that were dancing with flames. One arm came away from her, the other arm holding her that much more tightly. When they stopped once more, Raven turned.

She watched Chaos plunge her left hand into the magma and dig her claws into the soft rock. She heard the howl that Chaos held back behind her clenched teeth. Chaos jumped again, leaving behind fiery footprints that were washed away in the flow of the magma. She turned in the air, landing on the opposite wall. Her hand again went into the molten rock, and she again held a cry back behind her fangs. Twice more she leapt, scaling the walls of the chasm with Raven in her arm.

At the top of one wall, Chaos gave a final, great leap toward the nearest solid pathway. Despite her already superhuman effort, the jump did not bring them high enough. Chaos grabbed the pathway's ledge with her hand, letting out a hiss as she tightened her grasp. They hung there, Chaos panting for breath and Raven staring at the demon woman's hand.

The skin was gone, blood streaming down her arm from the exposed, blistering muscle and broken veins. White bone smoldered and smoked at the tips of her fingers. After a moment, Chaos pulled them up over the ledge, sitting heavily on the ground. She pulled her hand from the stone and looked at it. After a moment, she leaned over slightly, lifting her dangling legs to look at her feet.

"They're worse," she murmured blearily. She chuckled suddenly, letting her legs hang limp and holding her hand away from the ground and from Raven. "Give me a few minutes, little blackbird. It'll heal."

"Why did you do that?" Chaos did not hear the horror and hurt in Raven's voice, and thusly gave the girl an answer that was only half serious.

"Couldn't use my wings," she said with a faint laugh. Pain overriding rationality, she continued to laugh.

"Stop it! Stop it, stop it!" Raven's small fists began to pound at her chest. Chaos's laughter subsided as the pain did, and she looked at Raven in surprise. The little girl was sobbing, tears glistening in the light of the magma far below. "Stop it! You promised!"

"Raven?"

"You promised everything would be fine! You promised!" She looked into Chaos's eyes, anger and fear and hurt in her tears.

"I did."

"You promised that you would come and help me! Now you're hurt too—just like everyone else that tried to help!" She pressed her face against Chaos's chest, whimpering and sobbing. "_Why?_ Why do all of you try to help me?"

"Hope, little blackbird."

"There is no hope! I can't help anyone! I can't!" She let out a cry, unable to stop the sound. Chaos began to rub her back, letting her shed her tears.

"I know that I hurt my daughter when I left," Chaos murmured after a time. "And I want to tell her that I'm sorry." She lifted Raven's chin with her fingers, smiling gently at the girl. "I'm sorry I left you, Raven." She wiped the tears away from Raven's cheeks, kissing the girl on the forehead. "I'm sorry that you hurt so much right now. But I'll tell you those special words again: wait and hope. I made a promise to you, and I will never ever break a promise that I make to my daughter."

Chaos stood up, her hand and feet healed. She held Raven in her arms, smiling at her. Raven looked at her with wide eyes, once more stunned at the strength of Chaos's words. She wanted to say something, but could not find the words she wanted.

"Nothing's over yet, little blackbird," Chaos said. "Come on."

----------

The Titans were trapped. The legions of fire demons surrounded them, standing as if to taunt them. The heroes were unable to stand, covered in sweat and bruises and streaks of blood. No longer could they hold off the attacks of their adversaries. Whenever the next strike came, it would be the last.

A lupine howl made the heroes and demons turn. Standing atop a pile of rubble was the great black hound, its fangs bared and its red eyes roaming over the fire demons. The hound leapt from its place, falling upon the demons. It rushed through the ranks, every demon it touched vanishing in bursts of sparks. Within a minute, only the hound remained. It turned to look into the shadows behind itself, and the Titans followed the hound's gaze.

Chaos strode into the light, and the heroes stared at the girl in her arms. Starfire felt her heart beat faster and struggled to her feet. She stumbled to meet Chaos halfway, a smile finding its way onto her face. She looked at the girl—looked into her dark eyes—and held out her shaking hands.

"Dearest Raven," she whispered. Tears came to Raven's eyes when she saw Starfire so battered and beaten, and she reached out to her. Starfire fell back to her knees the moment Chaos put Raven into her arms, joy overpowering her. She murmured Raven's name over and over, combing her fingers through her soft hair. In that moment, almost nothing mattered. Her weariness did not matter. Her pain was trivial. The only thing Starfire cared for was in her arms once again, and she knew joy because of it.

"Pitiful fools." Those that were slumped on the ground looked up. Trigon stood before them, arms crossed over his chest. He sneered at them, eyes narrow. He saw Chaos and his sneer turned to a grin. "Hell's Heir. I have waited a long time to slaughter you and take my rightful place as Lucifer's second."

"OK, what in the hell makes you think that you'll do better than any other demon?" Chaos demanded.

"My power has increased here on Earth," Trigon replied. "You will die at my hand, here and now. Once you are dead, I will kill these mortals—and I will save my daughter for last." Starfire held Raven tighter and made to stand up. Chaos put a hand on her shoulder and stepped forward, advancing on Trigon slowly.

"I'm sick of you," she snarled. "I'm sick of everything that spews out of that hole you call a mouth." She drew her sword, but held it in her right hand instead of her left. "You've done so many things to piss me off—like turning my lover into stone, for example. It's such a pain in the ass to fix." She stopped walking, her grip tightening on the sword. "But even though I love Kali, it's nothing compared to what you've done to Raven." She lifted her arm up, holding her right hand and her sword high.

Over the years, Chaos had gathered innumerable scars. The scars would come and go as time passed, following a cycle of creation, healing, and fading. All but two of her scars did this. The first scar was a self-inflicted one that she would not allow to fade: a perfectly formed cross on her right cheek she carved upon herself nearly two thousand years earlier. The other was one she had been born with: a line wrapped around her right wrist. This scar existed and would not fade because it showed what she was born from.

She had been born from Lucifer's right hand, which he sacrificed to create her. He not only gave up his blood, flesh, and bone, but a part of his soul, and this was where all her power came from. From the scar on her wrist flowed black flames, covering her hand and her sword completely. She let the concealing magic fade away with the release of the flames, looking at Trigon with her six glowing red eyes so filled with hate and anger that he could not repress a shudder.

Before he had stilled, a flash of pain washed over his senses. He roared, clapping a hand over the stump of his right horn. The horn fell to the ground with a resounding crash, and Trigon stared at it.

"You've tried to frighten her into believing that she was destined only to bring you and the end of the world! I will not allow that!" Another flash of pain overwhelmed him as Chaos cut off his other horn.

"There is only one destiny, and she has fulfilled it!" he snarled. "Not even you can alter fate!" He howled as the fiery sword stabbed into one of his eyes and Chaos laughed.

"You have no idea what her destiny really is!" His hand rose up to swat her from his face, but a single swing took the fingers from it.

"She has brought me here! That is her fate!" He roared when Chaos pulled the sword from his face, pressing his ruined hand over his equally destroyed eye. As he stood wounded, Chaos turned to look at Raven.

"Listen to me!" she called to the girl on the ground. "You _were_ meant to bring Trigon here! If it were the only thing, I would have stopped it from happening! But you have a greater purpose—it's the reason I was destined to teach you and unlock all the power inside you!"

"SILENCE!" Trigon bellowed. He swiped at Chaos with his uninjured hand, only to have it severed from his arm. He grinned, however, opening his mouth and letting loose a blast of fire before Chaos could raise a guard. She was struck down from the sky, hitting the ground hard. When she rose from the crater she had created, fire was rushing at her again. She lifted her sword, the fireball hitting the blade. The fire pushed her back slightly, but she held the guard while turning to look at Raven again.

"You're not here to destroy the world!" she said. "You're here to be a hero—to kill Trigon!" His foot smashed down on her, grinding until he heard the satisfying sound of the bones in more than half of her body snap. Blood gushed from her mouth. Trigon sneered at her, keeping the pressure on her high enough to prevent her bones from healing. He looked up at Raven, and his sneer only increased.

"Do not delude yourself," he snarled. "You are nothing compared to me. You will always be my puppet—no more and no less than that, my daughter!" Still barely able to move, Starfire had no chance of stopping Raven from escaping her arms. The little girl started to walk toward the demon, and her eyes were glowing white.

"I'm _not_ your puppet," she said as light enveloped her. When the light receded, Raven stood as a young woman once more. Her hair was long, her eyes narrow, and she held light in her hands. "And I am _not_ your daughter." She lifted her hands, and the light rushed from them. Trigon screamed as the light burned a hole in his side. He stumbled backwards, his eyes widening in horror as Raven strode toward him.

"Only one person can call me their daughter," Raven said. The light rushed out again, piercing another of his eyes. "They protected me." A hole was punched through one of his shoulders. "They raised me and loved me." The arm that no longer had a hand was obliterated. "Only one person can call me their daughter—and Chaos is the only person I'll call my mother." She crouched down and touched Chaos's chest. The light healed every wound, and Raven smiled at the demon woman. She stood straight and went back to her friends. They reached for the hands she extended to them, returning the shadows she had given to them.

"You've attacked my friends—my family!" she shouted. "You've attacked the ones I love!" She turned to face him, rising into the air. "I won't let you ruin anything else!" Her eyes began to glow and the gem on her forehead danced with light. "_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!_" Outlined in shadows, the light spread from her in the form of a raven. It burned Trigon away into nothingness when it touched him. Light washed over the Earth.

—_to be concluded—_


	18. The End: Epilogue

The End: Epilogue

Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.

The sea breeze was sweet and strong. The sun was high, its light warm. Above, a few clouds drifted through the blue sky. Below, waves splashed against the rocky shore. Raven closed her eyes, smiling as the wind blew through her long hair. She did not hear the footsteps, but sensed the familiar presence coming up behind her.

"They're ordering out for a feast," Chaos chuckled. "Shouting about saving the 'whole danged universe,' to quote your friend Cyborg." She sighed and put her hands on her hip, looking out at the horizon. "I can't think of a better reason for a party." She felt Raven's eyes on her and turned, seeing the small, sad smile on her face.

"Are you going to leave?" Raven asked.

"Not yet." Chaos shrugged and popped her neck, smirking. "I made Kali promise to wait for me to come back, and I know that she's all right now. Besides, I'm really hungry." She sat down on the edge of the roof, patting the place beside her. Raven sat down as well, holding her legs up to her chest. For a few minutes, they were silent. After those minutes, Raven turned to look at Chaos.

"You knew that all of this was going to happen?" she asked.

"I did," Chaos replied.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I've always told you that destiny is never absolute. Heaven is the only thing that knows exactly what's going to happen. When anyone or anything else predicts the future, they're always wrong or they don't see all of it."

"That doesn't explain why you didn't tell me."

"No one can know everything about themselves. It's some stupid law that Heaven has. When Gabriel told me everything seventeen years ago, he sad that I shouldn't tell you."

"You _listened_ to _Gabriel_?" Chaos laughed aloud at the question.

"I didn't want to, but he actually bothered to explain why, for once. There are so many things that happen to create a person's destiny. If the person knew what was going to happen, they would try to influence things in the way they wanted. If that happened, then everything would be shot to hell." Raven let out a soft snort. "OK, I'm not quoting. The thing is, you couldn't know. That's really all there is to it." She reached out and brushed her fingers against Raven's cheek. "I would have told you—just like I would have done everything I could to stop it if it were anything but this."

"Thank you," Raven whispered. She took Chaos's hand and smiled, but it was laced with sadness. After a moment, she looked away. "I killed him." Chaos frowned at the faint horror in Raven's voice.

"You're a hero, not a saint," Chaos said. "You did the right thing." Raven leaned over, resting her head on Chaos's shoulder. "You did." When Raven nodded, Chaos smiled and stood up. She pulled Raven to her feet, wrapping the young woman in a hug. "Come on, little blackbird. It's a damn good day, and I feel like playing my violin." Raven smiled and followed Chaos back into the Tower, so eager to hear the demon woman play that she never thought of how her friends would react to the violin itself.

----------

"_Dude!_" Beast Boy shrieked.

"Is that made out of what I think it's made out of?" Cyborg asked. Chaos smirked and handed him the violin and its bow. The weight in his hands nearly dragged him to the floor, and he struggled to curl his arms back up.

"The strings are gold as well," Starfire murmured. She dragged a finger along one of the strings, hearing it hum like tapped crystal glass. Chaos took the solid gold violin and bow back from Cyborg, spinning the bow in her fingers. Robin opened his mouth to speak of the impossibility of the instrument, but closed it again and shook his head at himself.

Grinning, Chaos put the violin under her chin and slowly pulled the bow along one string. The familiar sound of a perfectly tuned violin sang out, until she gently pressed her finger down on the string. The sound changed immediately to the wavering chime of a piano. The next moment brought forth the echoing sigh of a flute. Three quick draws produced the strike of a drum, the screech of a guitar, and call of a trumpet.

"Anything you'd like to request?" Chaos asked, smirking. When all she received were dumbfounded stares and a single quiet smile, she shrugged and started to play. A full orchestra flowed from the gold violin, playing a piece that was nothing short of hypnotic. It swept into the heroes, soothing them as surely as any lullaby from their childhoods.

For Raven, it was her lullaby—the song she hummed when happy and thought of when sleep eluded her. It had been years since she had heard it, and it was still the sweet, soft song that her mother had made for her. She smiled at Chaos, and Chaos at her. When the song eventually drew to a close, silence reigned for a few moments more. Raven slipped her hand into Starfire's, gently drawing the other young woman down for a kiss.

A chime signaled the arrival of the pizzas they had ordered. Cyborg and Robin walked away in a trance, leaving Beast Boy staring at Chaos. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, swallowing hard and biting his lip. He sucked in a deep breath and tightened his hands to fists, bowing his head.

"I've got—I have a request," he whispered.

"And what would that be?" Chaos asked.

"Back there, when you were yelling at Trigon for all the stuff he did, you said that you could fix someone who got turned into stone." Beast Boy looked up at Chaos, eyes wide and pleading. "Can you help Terra?"

"Depends," Chaos murmured. She drew the bow across the violin's strings, wind chimes floating in the air. "Why should I?"

"Please!" he shouted. "I care about her! I want her back!" He froze when Chaos's fingers touched his forehead, looking up when she drew them back a moment later. Her eyes were closed, both in thought and to look at the memories she took from his mind. Robin and Cyborg returned, arms laden with stacks of pizza boxes. Chaos opened her eyes, and Beast Boy met her gaze.

"We're going to eat first," she murmured. "But that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it." He smiled, striding away to claim his vegetarian pizzas.

----------

"Why are we all here?" Cyborg asked.

"Once I read her mind, I'll decide if I bring her back or not," Chaos replied. "You're all going to hear my decision, and I'm leaving after this." They stood before the stone figure of Terra, deep underground. Chaos strode forward, and the Titans watched as she reached out and touched the stone girl's forehead. They held their breaths, waiting for a long moment before Chaos lowered her hand. She turned to look at Beast Boy and smirked at him.

"Request granted," she murmured. She turned back and laid her right hand on Terra's forehead. A pulse of black flames rushed from the scar on her wrist, traveling down the stone figure from where her hand touched it. The gray stone began to fade away, changing to living flesh and blood. With a sigh, the girl started to fall back to the ground. Beast Boy ran forward and caught her, holding her to his chest.

"Terra?" he asked. The girl's blue eyes fluttered open, widening in shock when they saw the green of his eyes.

"Beast Boy?" she whispered. He smiled and nodded, unable to speak. Tears welled in her eyes and she hugged him tightly.

"It's OK," he said. "It's OK." He pulled Terra to her feet, and she looked at the other heroes. They smiled at her and she returned the smile, tears flowing unstoppably. She turned to Beast Boy and kissed him, pressing her face against his neck when they parted.

"Sappy, isn't it?" Raven turned to find Chaos standing behind her. "But you all were ready to forgive her, and she wanted to live."

"I guess you're getting soft," Raven chuckled.

"Only because of you, little blackbird," Chaos replied. She smiled, opening her arms. Raven gladly gave the demon woman the hug she silently asked for. "You always make me proud of you, Raven."

"Thank you," Raven said softly. They parted, and Chaos combed her fingers through Raven's long hair.

"I'll see you around, little blackbird," she said. With a smile and a wink, Chaos walked away, fading into the darkness. Raven smiled as well, turning back to take Starfire's hand.

"Let's go home."

—_end—_


End file.
